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Ireland wing James Lowe 'can't wait' to face native New Zealand

By PA
James Lowe scored for Ireland against Japan last Saturday (Photo by PA)

Ireland wing James Lowe is already relishing the prospect of locking horns with some of his best friends as he prepares to face his native New Zealand for the first time.

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Lowe celebrated his international recall by scoring the opening try as the Irish launched their autumn campaign by thrashing Japan 60-5 on Saturday in Dublin.

The 29-year-old Leinster man qualified for his adopted nation last autumn through residency rules, having honed his skills playing alongside a number of current All Blacks in his homeland.

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Wayne Pivac on the pitch invader at Cardiff

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Wayne Pivac on the pitch invader at Cardiff

And, with the world’s top-ranked team due at the Aviva Stadium next weekend, he has swiftly turned his attention to a landmark occasion from a personal perspective.

“It’s obviously the country of my birth, where my family’s from, where I grew up, and where I learnt a lot of my trade,” said the former Maori All Blacks player.

“To have the opportunity now to potentially represent Ireland against them is something that is a challenge I knew was around the corner and a challenge that I can’t wait to put my best foot forward for.

“Some of my best friends are starters in that All Blacks team. I went to school with two or three of them, I played with a few of them when they were younger, and now they speak for themselves in the 15.

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“The list goes on with the amount of people that helped me become a player through playing with them. And, mate, I can’t wait for next weekend.”

Lowe enjoyed close relationships with the likes of Anton Lienert-Brown, Damian McKenzie, Samisoni Taukei’aho and Brodie Retallick, while he, David Havili and Ethan Blackadder each attended Nelson College school.

The former Tasman and Chiefs back also previously played alongside Finlay Christie and Will Jordan.

He is among a trio of New Zealand-born players in Ireland’s current squad, in addition to Leinster team-mate Jamison Gibson-Park and Connacht centre Bundee Aki.

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“In terms of the measuring stick, New Zealand have been at the top of the pecking order for years,” he added.

“The likes of New Zealand, South Africa, England, they’re the ones you need to challenge yourselves against.

“The performance (against Japan) was good but it’s all about next weekend now.”

Lowe returned to Andy Farrell’s starting XV against the Brave Blossoms after being dropped for March’s Guinness Six Nations win over England.

Head coach Farrell said: “James had a little bit of a wake-up call.

“He went away and understood how he needed to prepare for international rugby, his preparation is through the roof in comparison to what it was before.

“He’s learned the hard way, there’s a few things that he needs to get better from Saturday as well but his attitude is in the right place and I’m sure that will happen.

“He’s not a tidy player but neither do we want our players to be tidy players, he finds a way into the game, he’s in great nick, he’s lost a bit of weight and is fit.”

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Andrew 1092 days ago

The presence of this Maori Paddy should surely silence any whingeing about NZ and its island players, most of whom are NZ born and bred.

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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