Leo Cullen keeps mum on James Lowe's Leinster future

Lowe's current contract is due to expire and it is believed that he has not been able to agree a new deal with the province

Leo Cullen on James Lowe: "He's been a great addition on so many levels in the group because he's definitely a unique one." Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady

Leo Cullen has again opted to keep his counsel on the question of James Lowe’s future, but has highlighted the wing's importance by labelling him as a rarity in the game of rugby.

The Ireland wing became Leinster’s record try scorer when scoring his side’s eighth of the night against the Lions in a URC quarter-final in Dublin on Saturday, and then rounded off what was his 100th cap by claiming their ninth in a 59-10 stroll.

However, it looks like Lowe will not be at the club next year.

Now 33, his current contract is due to expire and it is believed that he has not been able to agree a new deal with the province. Lowe has never been on a central contract despite having earned 45 caps for Ireland and been a key player for years now.

Cullen had been asked about Lowe’s future prior to the Lions game and did not give any details on said only that conversations are always ongoing when it came to contracts.

“James will come out in terms of his own individual situation,” he said this time when asked if he felt Lowe would still be wearing Leinster blue next season. 

“So it's not really right for me to comment on that at the moment, if that's okay.” 

The Leinster boss did reminisce on how the player was signed from the Chiefs in 2017 and how his character had brought a point of difference and great energy to the Leinster dressing-room over the years.

Leinster's James Lowe is tackled by Lions' Darrien Landsberg. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady

"Listen, he's been phenomenal. Obviously, he scored two more classic James Lowe tries there today. It's amazing what he's achieved in terms of his try scoring record in what, less than half the amount of caps that the previous record holder [Shane Horgan] had.

"He's been a great addition on so many levels in the group because he's definitely a unique one. There's not many James Lowes running around the streets that we've come across so far. He's been a great addition to the group over the years."

Cullen was delighted with his side’s reaction to the Champions Cup final defeat to Bordeaux-Begles in Bilbao the weekend before.

“It's been a really tough week for everybody involved in the club. As you know, we try to pour our heart and soul into the Champions Cup every year. You get to a final on an amazing occasion, but our opponents were more clinical than us on the day.

“In lots of different aspects of the game, they were better than us. We need to take that on the chin, go through it and review it. Then we obviously try to pick a team to turn the page.” 

The Leinster head coach praised the professionalism if his side’s preparation after the Bilbao reversal but admitted that not everything had been “fixed” from the week before. They now face the Stormers in a Dublin semi-final next week.

“You’ll remember we played them in round one and got beaten 35-0, which was brutal. If you'd asked me after four rounds, when we'd lost three of our first four games, whether we'd take a home semi-final against the Stormers, we'd have bitten your hand off.” 

Tadhg Furlong was pulled from the starting side with what was later explained as a tight calf. Dan Sheehan and Joe McCarthy both came off with knocks that don’t appear to be too serious.

Garry Ringrose, Rónan Kelleher and Jordan Larmour all sat out this Lions win but hopes are high that all three will be available to face a Stormers side with major injury worries, not least No.10 star Sacha Feinberg Mngomezulu who is almost certainly out with injury.