Bowe driven by 2007 omission

TOMMY BOWE packed a lot into his summer. It kicked off with a three-week trek down America’s West Coast, a 15-hour promotional blitz across Ireland and countless rounds of golf and games of table tennis in Carton House.

What it didn’t involve was much rugby. Training, yes. Endless fitness sessions and gym work, yes. Rugby, no. A foot injury saw to that, restricting the wing to a pair of appearances against England and the USA.

His rustiness was apparent last Sunday when he spilled the ball three times in as many seconds at one point but he balanced that embarrassment with a try in each half and his importance is unquestioned.