STORM WARNING
All Blacks loss an ideal wakeup call to threat from north – Lowe
match of the year in Rome this weekend after losing to Ireland and barely scraping past England, 16-15 at Twickenham.
‘‘You look across the board, they’ve got world-class players in key positions,’’ he said of Ireland.
‘‘They did it without Conor Murray, and don’t get me wrong [Kieran] Marmion did play well, but I think Conor Murray is in the bracket of best halfback in the world right now.
‘‘James Ryan was an absolute bloody freak. His numbers; something like 19 carries, 17 tackles, that speaks for himself.
‘‘Look at the All Blacks team, they’re still very, very young. Their bench, don’t get me wrong, it’s awesome and they’d start for most other nations but it’s not the bench of old.’’
Lowe said he caught up with some of his former team-mates among the All Blacks squad in Dublin last week and has backed their younger players to improve ahead of the World Cup starting next September.
Ireland have emerged as contenders and Lowe said their defence – inspired by defensive guru Andy Farrell – was proving to be formidable.
‘‘Everyone talks about the set-piece play, don’t get me wrong, it was a work of art, everything that unfolded from it, but defence won that game.
‘‘Rory Best, holy crap, when he put a shot on Brodie, it sent shivers down my spine and I was bloomin’ halfway up the stands. It was an awesome performance Ireland should be proud of.’’