IT’S LOWE & BEHOLD
James says Leinster can only count a season as a successful one whenever they see silverware in their cabinet
JAMES LOWE insists Leinster only measure success in terms of silverware won.
Thus it has been a tough few years for the province with nothing gained for the trophy cabinet since 2021 – and that was their last URC title triumph.
Worse, it is almost six years since the Blues were last crowned as Champions Cup winners.
Success has flowed for Lowe and many of his Leinster team-mates in the Ireland set-up so there is a serious hunger to make amends at club level.
If they get it right in the coming weeks, Leinster will have successfully negotiated three games at Aviva Stadium – starting with Saturday’s last 16 clash with Leicester Tigers – before winning the final at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Lowe said: “The only way you measure it at the end, whether it’s been a good season or not, is trophies. We’ve been in this position before and come up short.
I’ve lost three different finals so far at Champions Cup level so that’s a pretty s*** stat to have.
“It’s one game at a time. That’s the cliché.
“We’re crossing all the T’s and dotting all the I’s to make sure we understand Leicester in the buildup.
“Come Saturday hopefully we won’t be surprised by anything.
“We’ve a very tough ask against Leicester but we’ve put ourselves in a good position to deliver a performance.
“We worked hard throughout the pool stages to earn the right to be able to play at home now.
“Leicester are a very, very good side with a wealth of experience, internationals across the board.
“A World Cup 10 (in Handre Pollard), backs, Solomone Kata is obviously an international, Freddie Steward is an international. Their six and seven, internationals.
“It stacks up for a pretty good game against us. We were able to go to Welford Road and put in a performance we were happy with.
“We came away with five points there, so hopefully we can do that again.”
Lowe will be crucial to Leinster’s cause as they fight for glory on two fronts.
He feels fresh after taking a three-month post-world Cup break from midoctober to mid-january.
On his return, he played the full 80 minutes in Leinster’s final two Champions Cup pool games – including that victory over Leicester at Welford Road.
The 31-year-old didn’t miss a moment of championship-winning Ireland’s five Six Nations games before playing the full game against the Bulls last Friday night.
“I feel really good,” said Lowe. “Had a bit of a layoff after the World Cup, had some TLC and a bit of sun, got my body right and a couple of Champions Cup games leading into the Six Nations.
“I’m flying it.”
CHAMPIONS CUP, AVIVA, SATURDAY 8PM