Lowe wary of Leicester’s Grand Slam deniers
Leinster winger James Lowe expects the ghosts of Ireland’s Grand Slam failure to be re-awoken by Leicester’s triumphant England contingent in the build-up to Saturday evening’s Investec Champions Cup Round of 16 Aviva Stadium clash.
Tigers forwards Dan Cole, George Martin and Ollie Chessum, started England’s 23-22 win at Twickenham last month which ended Ireland’s dream of achieving back-to-back Six Nations clean sweeps and barring injury, they will almost certainly be involved again.
It was an odds-defying result by England and Leicester travel to Leinster’s Dublin fortress as even bigger rank outsiders at 9/1.
“They stopped us winning the Grand Slam, that was the unfortunate thing,” said winger Lowe when asked by RugbyPass if their opponents may take something from the Twickenham encounter, in which he scored twice.
“Look, in terms of that game, we were put under an immense amount of pressure and England had their backs against the wall after the week before [a loss to Scotland] and they stepped up and managed to topple us over so fair play to them.
“There are some English internationals in this Leicester side who are going to be probably playing the same tune as what they were in the week leading up to our Test match.
“It’s about us getting our stuff right. We understand the pressure that comes in these knockout-style games, these international-level games that we play in.
“We all know if we do our job to the best of our ability, there is going to be opportunities to exploit a team and come Saturday we are going to put our best foot forward and hopefully that happens.”
Leinster and Leicester may have six European Cup titles between them, and the team names may only be differentiated by a single letter, but in reality, they are worlds (or should that be words) apart.
Over two decades have passed since Leicester won the last of their back-to-back triumphs at the turn of the Millennium and it 15 years since they last competed in the final, a 19-16 defeat at Murrayfield handing Leinster their first of their four titles.
It was the catalyst for a sustained period of domestic and European success for current URC leaders Leinster, while Leicester’s opportunist Premiership title win in 2021/22 is something of an outlier in terms of major silverware won.
And added to that, back-to-back Champions Cup final defeats have given Leinster plenty of motivation to get the job done this year.
“It doesn’t matter who we come up against or the team that we put out there, there is an expectation at this club to perform at the highest level. It’s Champions Cup football, it is something that we haven’t won in many a year (since 2018). We are playing at home, in front of our fans, and we are not here to disappoint,” said Lowe, who scored a try on his return to Leinster colours in last Friday’s 47-14 win against the Bulls.
Leinster are Leicester’s most frequent European opponent: they have faced them 14 times previously and this is the second time they have met this season.
Saturday’s match is a repeat of the round four fixture at Welford Road in which Leinster had to come back from 10-0 down to win 27-10. It extended Leinster’s winning run over the Tigers to five matches, dating back to 2008.
But Lowe insists nothing is being taken for granted this weekend, with familiarity breeding anything but contempt.
“Complacency is a killer and there is none of that in this camp,” the Ireland winger said.
“We understand that there is a target on our back no matter who we come up against and Leicester are a team who have a wealth of experience at international level, they are physical, combative upfront, they have a very big midfield, a World Cup winner at 10 running things, Freddie Steward at the back.
“Look, we’re under no illusions about what is coming this week and we are going to prepare as if there is no tomorrow. If we don’t perform this week, there is no next week.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Safas are so triggered by Ireland. 3 consecutive losses, incl RWC. 8 losses out of last 12 Tests. Always excuses, of course, with Bok fans. Now Rassie with his “88%” nonsense, the Claytons Excuse is an embarrassment to Bok teams of the past when every test mattered. Their fickle mojo will be on edge for the Ireland tour. Have the referees been appointed yet ? They will need security. Have WR laid out strict guidelines for TMO’s and replays on the stadium screens ? Will the constant stoppages from Bok forwards for cramps and bootlaces be tolerated ? We’re not talking a dominant Springbok team here, they won the LOTTO Cup and they know it whether they admit it or not. The Disney doco has their fans positively fermenting internally, its going to be a nasty hangover if they get beaten on home soil. What will the excuses be then……
66 Go to commentsGreat role model.
2 Go to commentsOne significant tell, not a single Waratahs player stopped to whinge to the ref about Finau’s tackle. They got on with playing the game. Great tackle.
8 Go to commentsWouldn’t be a bad move if Ireland pulled into SA with a young side. Particularly in Pretoria. Invaluable experience getting thumped in the bosveld.
66 Go to commentsIreland. The Princess Diana of Rugby. I never cheered so much for a team as i did for the All Blacks in that QF.
66 Go to commentsWill be great to see the Leinster first XV back in action again after their cotton wool time…
1 Go to commentsLooked up Grant Constable on google and reply was doppelgänger for Ben Smith
66 Go to commentsIt is so good that we now all get excited and debate who is best and emotionally get involved. We all back our teams which is great. Up until about 15-20 years ago, NZ was basically on its own, and then Saffa, Aussie and sometimes French and English were there. We now have at least 5-6 really top sides and another 4 who keep improving. This is so healthy. So we should not resort to rubbish comments and unhealthy debate, but rather all be chuffed that the product we watch is not competitive, exciting and often uncertain. It would be so good if World Rugger could find a way to align the rules to professional players as well as spectators. Live rugby games are SO boring as there is SO much down time as we wait for refs and TMOs and whoever else to look at every small event going back endless phases with the hope of eventually find a minute infringement to then decide cancel what was a wonderful try. This is the ultimate cork back in the bottle moment and feels like every balloon is always being popped. Come on- we must be better with the rules.
66 Go to comments“upon leaving said establishment I tripped over a stool knocking some bottles into the air and as I fell I accidently dislodged a police officer’s teaser who was passing by on an unrelated matter there by landing on said taser which caused it to discharge 50,000 watts into me. Out of shock I shouted Ireland are going to win the world cup. Upon waking up I apologised for the distress caused by my Ireland comment. The matter is closed. If you wish to pursue this matter may I remind you what I told Wayne Barnes when he sent me off. I AM A BIG ASS MAN”. Or was it “I AM A BIG ASS, MAN” or was it “I AM A BIG ASSMAN”?
2 Go to commentsThe only championship the Boks hold are: Great value for the incompetence of referees during the RWC Moaning endlessly and champions of spewing utterly ignorant 💩 at all times. Displaying the dangers of a third world education End of.
66 Go to commentsSouth Africa and Rassie do a phenomenal job of treating the 4 years in between World Cups as nothing more than a training exercise to build squad depth. The Six Nations money that keeps Irish rugby afloat is unfortunately too important to allow the same approach, and basic population size means we'll never get close to matching the depth of South Africa, England and France. That being said, Irish rugby is in a relatively good place and slowly improving inch by inch. If the other three provinces can pull the finger out and actually develop some players it'd be even better.
66 Go to commentsGood on Clarke for taking on the criticism and addressing his deficiencies, principally his laziness.
2 Go to comments“It is the people’s favourite against the actual favourite. It is the people’s champions against the actual champions. I’m joking, but it’s going to be a fantastic series.” Why did Darcy make that joke knowing it would be used as click bait? Why did RP headline it as a serious comment? Anyway, the tired comment isn’t very astute. SA players may have played more games etc. Darcy over estimated as a pundit.
66 Go to commentsNot sure Frisch will ever make the French team with Depoortère and Costes waiting in the wings to take over from Danty and Fickou.
1 Go to commentsThe Irish are tired and the Boks are old. The test series won't confirm who is best in the world, it will confirm which team needs to pursue the task of rebuilding with the most urgency.
66 Go to commentsGrant, the first time I have seen an article written by you. Maybe I have missed your previous stuff. These days all professional players effectively play a common season so all top players are equally tired, or rested. That is the job of the coaching ticket to build squad depth and juggle resources so players are ‘ fresh’ when the big games come. Possibly Ireland are less inclined to juggle squad compared to Rassie, who is prepared to take the risk to rest players as well as build depth throughout the year so come WC he has a full squad, experienced and rested enough to win 7 games. After all, to win WC you need to get through the tournament and then win the final big 3 games. Ireland should try and build a bit so come final 3 they are ready. So far only played final 1(QF). I am so looking forward to the Irish tour. Hopefully Rassie has enough time to align his guys, as he draws them from across the globe, and not from 2 sides locally( eg Leinster, Munster). No excuses, going to be exciting.
66 Go to commentsIn football, teams get fined and sometimes docked points for deliberately fielding weakened teams yet Leinster can pretty much do as they please with no comebacks. Could it be because Ireland run the URC? Could it be that Ireland run the ERC? Whichever it is, it stinks!!
6 Go to commentsIreland are only the People’s Champions in Irish eyes. The rest of the world do not care for them very much because of attitudes of people like Gordon, Ferris, Best, Jackman…I could go on!!
66 Go to commentsNot sure how Karl Dickson can ever ref a Quins game, he played for the club for 8 years as understudy to Care and is still close friends with half the team
3 Go to commentsAre bookies taking bets on how many times Vunipola's eventual statement will use the term “elders"? My money is on at least 4 times.
4 Go to comments