Lowe on a high
Former Chiefs wing James Lowe scored a try as European Champions Cup holders Leinster beat Bath in Dublin.
Lowe has become a cult hero at Leinster since joining last season after helping the Tasman Mako to the 2017 Mitre 10 Cup final. The 26-year-old missed Leinster’s grand final win last season due to a restriction on the number of international players, but he helped them win the Pro14 championship.
Lowe dotted down Leinster’s third try as the champions banked a bonus point before halftime against Bath at the Aviva Stadium yesterday.
They led 28-10 at the interval and increased their winning margin to 42-15 after second-half tries to Irish test flanker Dan Leavy and former Taranaki halfback Jamison Gibson-park.
Bath, coached by former All Blacks captain and ex-crusaders mentor Todd Blackadder, fielded Kiwis James Wilson and Cooper Vuna in their backline.
Star back rowers Francois Louw and Sam Underhill scored tries for Bath, but Blackadder’s team is now eliminated from the Champions Cup playoffs.
Elsewhere, former Crusaders wing Sean Maitland continued his try-scoring run with a fivepointer in English champions Saracens’ 26-14 win over the Cardiff Blues in Cardiff.
Former Hurricanes midfielder Rey Lee-lo, who played outside fellow Kiwis Gareth Anscombe and Willis Halaholo, scored a try for Cardiff, who led 14-13 at halftime.
England hooker Jamie George grabbed a second-half try for Saracens, who profited from four penalties by English test cocaptain Owen Farrell.
Ex-all Black Lima Sopoaga’s Wasps also saw their playoff hopes dashed in a 42-27 loss to Jerome Kaino’s Toulouse.
Sopoaga started the game on the bench, entering as a 62nd minute substitute. Wasps did not field New Zealand-born England flanker Brad Shields.
Dave Rennie’s Glasgow Warriors stayed in contention with a 21-10 win over an understrength Lyon, who had lock Etienne Oosthuizen sent off for elbowing Glasgow’s Scotland test pivot Adam Hastings in the face.
Former Auckland and Canterbury prop Paea Fa’anunu scored the game’s only try as Castres beat Munster 13-12.
Jason Woodward’s two tries could not prevent Gloucester – captained by ex-crusader Willi Heinz with former Highlander Josh Hohneck at loosehead prop – from losing 27-19 at home to the Exeter Chiefs. Former champion David Ferrer will make a final-season appearance at Auckland’s ASB Classic.
The 36-year-old Spaniard, who earlier this year announced that he’d retire after the 2019 season, has been confirmed for next month’s tournament – one of a select group of events in his farewell tour.
Ferrer has already captured four titles at the ASB Classic and sits alongside Australian Roy Emerson as the event’s most successful player. His loyalty to Auckland is unprecedented, playing 13 times. In addition to his four wins, he’s made the semifinals on four occasions and the quarterfinals three times.
Despite a current world ranking of 126, Ferrer peaked at No 3 five years back, and has been hot on the heels of the ‘big four’ – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic – for the past decade, often considered the unluckiest player to not capture a grand slam.
Throughout his career he’s captured 27 ATP titles and amassed more than $32 million in prize money – the seventh highest of all time.