RUGBY COLUMN – DECEMBER 5 2017
By Daire Walsh
James Lowe enjoyed a debut to remember on Saturday afternoon last, when Leinster secured a comprehensive bonus-point victory over Benetton Treviso in the Guinness PRO14.
With 25 tries from 52 appearances during his four-seasons stint with the Chiefs in his native New Zealand, Lowe’s arrival in Dublin was always likely to met with great excitement and anticipation. The Māori All Black was selected on the left-wing for his Leinster debut, where he was joined by rising star Jordan Larmour and the experienced Dave Kearney.
Fresh from his recent appearances for Ireland in the Guinness Series, Kill’s James Tracy was named alongside Jack McGrath and Andrew Porter (who also featured on the international stage in November) in the Blues’ front-row, and there was space for Suncroft man Fergus McFadden amongst the replacements.
Leinster were aiming to build on their commanding win against the Dragons eight days earlier, but in a similar vein to that encounter, they found themselves staring into an early deficit. A Tommaso Allan penalty edged Treviso in front, before Lowe broke opened his account with a neat finish on 16 minutes.
This was followed by a conversion from fly-half Ross Byrne (getting another chance to impress in the absence of Jonathan Sexton and Athy’s Joey Carbery), and her the visitors’ cushion with a successful place-kick on 25 minutes.
He also supplied the bonuses to a Jordi Murphy five-pointer, and this gave Leinster a 17-3 advantage heading into the break. Treviso’s improved form in this season’s league had made them a much tougher proposition, though, and they fought back into the reckoning with a converted Nacho Brex touchdown 16 minutes into the second-half.
However, this was only a temporary speed bump for Leinster, and a try from the returning Garry Ringrose on the hour mark provided them with significant breathing space. Luke McGrath was given an all-too-brief cameo by Joe Schmidt in Ireland’s win over Argentina on the previous weekend, and his third try in two provincial appearances in the 64th-minute will give the international management food for thought.
On his maiden cap for his new team, Lowe was named player of the match, and his second try in the closing stages helped Leinster to return from Italy with a 36-10 triumph. This moves them up to second place in Conference B, and they will now welcome back their front-line international stars ahead of away Champions Cup fixture with Exeter Chiefs on Sunday.
Elsewhere, former Cill Dara player Aine Donnelly started at outside centre for the Leinster Women’s side in Dromore last Sunday, as they began the defence of their Interprovincial title with a convincing 34-10 success against Ulster.
Kilcullen’s Jenny Murphy will miss this series due to injury, but with current head coach Adam Griggs set to take charge of the Irish senior side on an interim basis for next year’s Six Nations, the remaining encounters with Connacht and Munster are ideal opportunities to show what they can offer in a green jersey.