Tense Tommy Bowe refuses to look beyond the ‘now’

Such is the absolute adherence throughout the Ireland squad to the mantra of living in the moment, that even a couple of weeks out from the World Cup, Tommy Bowe was unable to allow himself a glimpse of the tournament to come, never mind the thought of playing in it.

The competition for places, first to make the final cut of 31 players for the World Cup squad, and now to earn a starting place in Saturday’s opening Pool D clash with Canada, was and is so intense that there was an understandable if frustrating reluctance to step out of the ‘now’ and look beyond it.

A distinctly uncharacteristic below-par performance in the final warm-up Test against England at Twickenham will have only increased the Ulster wing’s desire to make the most of every moment in front of him on the training ground.