'I was absolutely b*****ed' - James Lowe breaks silence on Chris Ashton's 'too big, too heavy, too slow' comments
James Lowe has responded to Chris Ashton’s comments about how the Leinster star is ‘too big, too heavy, too slow’ following the Autumn Nations Cup clash between Ireland and England in November.
Lowe appeared slow to cover back to cover a chip ahead by May when the England winger scored his 85 metre wonder try in their 18 – 7 defeat of Ireland in Round Three of the tournament on November 21st. Ashton wasn’t the only one to criticise Lowe’s endurance after the match, but his comments grabbed headlines.
‘If I was a winger on the opposite side of the pitch from Jonny; say I was James Lowe on the Ireland team… when Jonny shanks that kick across the pitch my job is to go across the pitch and get the ball,” said the former England winger. ‘Where was James Lowe? He’s dragging a dresser back there. He’s too big. He’s dragging a tractor, mate, turning. I watched him during the game. He is too big, too heavy, too slow.’
Now the 106kg winger has had an opportunity to address the criticism head-on. Speaking on The Offload podcast, Lowe explained the four phases that lead up to try and had left him ‘b******ed’.
“I don’t listen to much of the reporting that’s going on, due to the fact that a lot of the people that report on rugby will report on the football at the weekend and when Wimbledon comes up, all of a sudden they’re tennis pros, then McGregor will fight and they’ve fought in an undercard in the UFC. That’s my general opinion of it.
“For it to come from a player, someone that is recently out of the sport, to another person who’s just coming on to the international stage, it’s so tough. You know Zeebs, you miss one moment and all of a sudden Jonny May scores one of the tries of the year and that there could have easily been stopped by me if I had gone back, if I had literally just done my job.
“I take that on the chin any day of the week.
“If you want to look into what really led up to that. We got into the position, we were in, because I chased a kick, and hit Billy, and tried to be a nuisance at the ruck.
“I ran back and then turned around and chased a box kick. Ended up getting us a penalty, we kicked the corner, then that’s how the lineout happened. I was absolutely b*****ed at that stage and that’s no excuse, by any means, because it’s international rugby. This is what’s expected of you, that’s your job.
“I should have been there. I take it on the chin.”
Podcast regular Simon Zebo says he thought Lowe had a “great game” and that in normal circumstances, someone would have made ‘the tackle on the edge, and you would have got your 20-second breather.’
“Like you said a lot of people came out of the woodwork. I don’t read all that sort of stuff,’ said Lowe. ‘You start getting opinions from people who haven’t played rugby since schoolboy stuff. ‘Ah yeah, I could have made it’ That’s what they say at the pub.”
"Is it really a Chris Ashton thing to do? Just to leave a club like that [mid-season]? It’s not.”https://t.co/3oc9OXIJGe
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 11, 2020
“If we had won that game, barely a thing would have been said [of Lowe’s failure to cover across]. It would have been ‘Jonny May’s amazing try’, it wouldn’t have been ‘Lowie didn’t chase back’. It’s such a fickle game.
“The way I like to look at it is that as a sportsman, you literally you have an exam every weekend, but it’s not just one person marking the exam, all of a sudden it’s X amount of people, it’s everybody at home watching on TV, they’re all marking the exam as well, they’re all wagging the finger. They’ve all got a voice on social media and they’re not afraid to use it.”
“That’s all part and parcel of professional sport. Take it on the chin mate, the sun’s going to come up and I’m going to get another chance. And Jesus, if Chris Ashton was there,” quipped Lowe to conclude the matter.
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
3 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
3 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
25 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
13 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
25 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
13 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
3 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
13 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
13 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
13 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
45 Go to comments