Fit and fresh James Lowe feels for Lions colleagues after year-long season
James Lowe who has teamed up with Rugby Players Ireland, Zurich and the Z Zurich Foundation to invite Post primary schools to take part in the 2021/2022 Tackle Your Feelings Schools mental wellbeing programme as part of the #ImTakingControl campaign. Picture: INPHO/Morgan Treacy
James Lowe will be fit and firing for the new rugby season after injury but the Leinster and Ireland wing can’t help but feel some pity for teammates who will face into the new campaign on the back of a long and draining tour with the British and Irish Lions.
Ireland’s professional players returned to the paddock last August after the first of the lockdowns had been relaxed and sport returned, meaning those on duty in South Africa this summer played rugby for the bones of 12 straight months.
In all, nine Irish players spent over four weeks on duty with Warren Gatland’s squad.
"Potentially, I feel a little bit bad for those Lions guys,” said Lowe who has teamed up with Rugby Players Ireland, Zurich and the Z Zurich Foundation to invite post-primary schools to take part in the 2021/2022 Tackle Your Feelings Schools mental wellbeing programme as part of the #ImTakingControl campaign.
“The tour wasn't what everyone was expecting by any means, but the fact they played rugby for almost a year consistently is something nobody should be used to. It came at a timely time. Now we're back fully fit and ready to rumble."
None more so than himself.
Last season was a mixed bag for Lowe who played his first six games for Ireland but came in for some serious scrutiny due to his defending. Added to that were a couple of injuries that sidelined him for long stretches.
A groin and knee combination kept him out for eleven weeks between November and February and a torn hamstring in the Heineken Champions Cup semi-final loss to La Rochelle brought his season to a close long before the Rainbow Cup started.
“It was one of those ones where I could have made it a lot worse if I'd kept trying. It took a lot longer to recover from. It was one of those ones where I really wanted to get back but by being a little bit naive it did me more damage than good.
"I really just had to stamp it out and say: 'look, you're not going to be playing for the rest of the season'. Once I'd accepted that, it healed a lot quicker. I'm back, fully fit. I'm running around and getting flogged. We're ready to rumble."
A fresh and fit Lowe is a huge boost for Leinster as they look towards the start of another season. So too is the form of Robbie Henshaw whose ever-burgeoning reputation was enhanced still further by his performances for the Lions.
“Everyone from Leinster really put their hand up during the series,” said Lowe. “He played amazing, Tadhg (Furlong) and Jack (Conan) as well. A lot of people were very surprised with his inclusion, but I've seen him work from Monday to Friday and to be able to string together a few games…
“The old nickname of 'The Italian Assassin' might not stick anymore. We'd say he's played 25 Tests and 20 of them were against Italy! No, all of them. You called out Robbie but Tadhg is an absolute freak, he's had his injury problems. Same as Jack.
"Robbie's a man amongst men. He's belting people. What surprises me is the way he plays the game. He's so physical that you shouldn't be able to do that for 11 months of the year. You need to give the boy a break.
"But, he's tough as nails, a smart footballer, and he played an outstanding tournament."
Henshaw’s performances were an obvious plus but the series as a whole was an enormous disappointment, not just because of the lack of fans and Covid problems but the dearth in quality and spectacle across the meetings with the Springboks.
It was a window that shone an unfavourable light on the game as a whole given this was a meeting of the reigning world champions and the game’s most lauded and legendary touring side but Lowe doesn’t believe it will act as a signpost for the years to come.
"There are some trends that will definitely come out of it, South Africa played to their strengths. They've got some of the biggest humans in the world in that forward pack, the Lions' forward pack didn't roll over by any means but the South Africans have a game-plan and they stuck to it.
"I don't think the game of rugby will lean towards that, it's based on the personnel that you have. I'm sure they'll be scratching their heads. They'd a lot of opportunity in that third Test. It's easy to say from the couch, but the thing that let them down was probably their setpiece.
"The first maul try in that third Test, I thought they'd switched on and really done something well here and then they got a few more opportunities just before half-time.
"They missed the lineout, (Eben) Etsebeth gets a steal off a one-man jump so you're talking about the throw from the hooker, things like that. It wasn't champagne rugby, but it was a Test series we were all glued to."
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