Half the world away: watching James Lowe's long journey to top of the Irish game

Andrew Goodman and James Lowe go back a long way - Goodman was his PE teacher, team mate and now coach. 

Andrew Goodman at Leinster training. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady

Of all those currently involved in the Irish system, there are few who are better placed to describe James Lowe’s journey to being a bona fide international than Leinster assistant coach Andrew Goodman.

Natives of Nelson on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay in New Zealand, the pair first came across each other when Goodman was Lowe’s PE teacher in Nelson College. Before embarking on a two-season stint as a Leinster player from 2012 to 2014, he featured alongside Lowe in the colours of their local side Tasman and also coached the Irish winger for the same team when he returned from a spell with the Chiefs in Super Rugby.