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Irish Times
3 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Irish Times
Why James Lowe is determined for Cian Healy and Ross Byrne to leave Leinster with a medal this season
Maudlin is permissible as an emotion at this time of year. Players retire or move on to fresh challenges. Despite the promises, friendships are never exactly the same for those who depart. They can't be when a player is not among the group every day. Retirees often cite the camaraderie and dressingroom banter as aspects of their former life that they come to miss most. They stay in touch, but are not in touch with that daily working intimacy. It is therefore not a surprise that James Lowe alighted on two players, one from either category – Cian Healy who retires at the end of the season and the Gloucester-bound Ross Byrne – when speaking about Leinster's motivation in trying to win a United Rugby Championship title, the first step towards which is to beat the Scarlets at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday (3pm). 'When I look around the changing-room and the people who aren't going to be here next year, the two you obviously think of are Ross Byrne and Cian Healy. Some of the best days of your life are when you win silverware together,' the Leinster wing said. READ MORE 'For Ireland we have been able to do that in recent years, but we haven't been able to transfer that with Leinster. It doesn't mean that because you have won with Ireland you are going to win with Leinster. 'You still have to come back here and perform on the biggest of days and under the most amount of pressure. That's what we want to do. We can't let Cian Healy leave Leinster without another medal around his neck. It's not doing him justice; it's not doing Ross Byrne justice. Those boys watched Leinster at Donnybrook years and years ago.' Lowe also appreciates that it is the wider Leinster squad who have propelled the province to this point of the season in the URC, and for many they will not get a chance to play through the knockout phase should they progress to the final. He said it was one thing to be disappointed after losing a match, but quite another to look at the faces of those who did not even get the opportunity. Empathy builds a strong bond. Lowe learned a couple of other important life lessons over the weekend. Dublin Zoo is much bigger than he realised, armed with one buggy and two children, and that his son Nico probably needs a couple of footwork drills to keep him upright when given a taste of freedom. Lowe also got a first-hand appraisal of the sheer size of the circus that he would be joining as a Lion for the upcoming tour to Australia . The recent orientation day in London saw him 'introducing myself to people, like, three times a day. I was just, like, 'I'm so sorry I've got no idea who you are or what you do, but you're sitting there, and you look like I should introduce myself'.' There are 38 players in an official travelling party that will probably hit the 90-mark. Lowe's eloquent rebuttal of the criticism, from some quarters, of southern-hemisphere-born players wearing the red jersey hit its mark last week. But he demonstrated a lighter touch in getting all touchy-feely emotionally with erstwhile enemies and soon to be team-mates. 'It was awesome, though, even just to mix and mingle on a social level with players that on the weekend you hate. You genuinely have a serious hate for these people and then to meet them in a context of [the fact] we are on the same journey together [and] about to tour Australia. 'You need to break down these barriers because we're all in the same boat, going in the same direction and we want to succeed. It was cool in that sense.' To more pressing matters and a game against a Scarlets team that recently beat Leinster in Llanelli, west Wales. A superior kicking game was central to the Welsh club's victory. Lowe offered the 'skinny' on the Scarlets detail, saying: 'On paper the team is very good. The back three is young, but they are all international players. 'Their midfield is big and abrasive, ball in hand, able to put little kicks in. Nine and 10 axis, you have a 10 there that wants to ping corners and that's what they did.' The Scarlets won that kicking battle, so Leinster must come with a plan. 'That's how they beat us last time so it's about us as a back three trying to nullify that,' Lowe said. 'If we can take that away with good kick pressure and pressure at the ruck, make [Scarlets scrumhalf Gareth] Davies at nine have to scrap for everything, make it a real tough day for him, I think it will go a long way. 'If we force them into bad kicks or read cues as a back three, if we can shut down kick angles with good pressure, that can make our lives so much easier. We can look after each other.'
The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
‘We can't let Cian Healy leave Leinster without another medal' urges James Lowe after Champions Cup heartbreak
JAMES LOWE admitted it was fun a fortnight ago to sit down with people who he hates and who hate him. But nothing could make the Ireland star hate-watch last Saturday's Champions Cup final. 2 James Lowe is determined to win the URC 2 Cian Healy emotional during speech at Leinster awards ceremony The past few weeks have been a rollercoaster for Leinster wing Lowe, 33, who has had some highs and, erm, lows. It is less than four weeks since the disappointment of Leinster's But that was quickly That meant a get-together in London a fortnight ago and having a quick beer with some England, Scotland and Wales opponents who he is conditioned to hate. Read more on Rugby He said: 'It was awesome. Even just to mix and mingle on a social level with players that . . . on the weekend you hate. 'Like, you genuinely have a serious hate for these people and then to meet them in a context of we are on the same journey together, about to tour Australia. 'And you need to break down these barriers because we're all in the same boat, going in the same direction and we want to succeed. 'So it was cool in that sense and, like I said, some people who, when they are on a rugby pitch, you hate. And then I'm sitting down having a beer with them and, 'Jeez, you're kind of like me'. Most read in Rugby Union 'And then I remember they hate me as well. But I think we're kind of normal. It was cool. It was nice.' But there was nothing nice about the weekend just gone as Lowe could not watch as conquerors Northampton lost to Bordeaux in the Champions Cup final. 'Jack Crowley he's coming for you' jokes Peter O'Mahony's wife Jess as son practices his rugby skills For him, the pain of not being there was still too raw. He said: 'I was at the zoo for the morning — I didn't know how big the zoo was. We took one pram. We've got two kids. I'm either carrying Nico or he is face-planting the whole time. 'So that's what I did for the morning and then the afternoon, I'm literally entertaining him. I've got enough pain in my life with kids, I don't think I need to force anymore! 'I knew it was on, I was paying attention on my phone, just watching on the app. 'Fair play to Bordeaux, congratulations, and commiserations to Saints, they have both been exceptional this year. It's not that I don't respect the two teams. 'It sucked this year that we weren't there but that's how it happened. It just sucks because I wanted to be there. A lot of boys are the same.' URC DESPERATION But Lowe is determined to park that European disappointment and ensure Leinster do end the year with silverware in the URC. He is quick to point out that Leinster have won the Irish Shield four years in a row but knows that a major title will also be good for the province. And as they get ready for Saturday's Aviva Stadium quarter-final with Scarlets, he insisted ensuring the retiring Cian Healy and departing Ross Byrne leave with a medal is a motivation. He added: 'When I look around the changing room and the people who aren't going to be here next year, the two you obviously think of are Ross Byrne and Cian Healy . . . some of the best days of your life are when you win silverware together. 'For Ireland, we have been able to do that in recent years but we haven't been able to transfer that with Leinster. 'It doesn't mean that because you have won with Ireland you are going to win with Leinster. 'You still have to come back here and perform on the biggest of days and under the most amount of pressure. That's what we want to do. 'We can't let Cian Healy leave Leinster without another silver medal around his neck again. 'It's not doing him justice, it's not doing Ross Byrne justice. 'That's hopefully the plan the next three weeks.'
Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
James Lowe not in mood to let Cian Healy leave Leinster without more success
Motivation will be no problem for Leinster as May unfolds. Denied yet again in the Champions Cup, this time at the semi-final stage, the province must now square its shoulders to the secondary target that is a URC title. It's four seasons now since Leo Cullen's side won its last piece of silverware. That was when the league was trading under the banner of the PRO14 for the last time. It's way past time for the trophy cabinet to welcome a new addition. And there's other factors at play here too. 'When I look around the changing-room and the people who aren't going to be here next year, the two you obviously think of are Ross Byrne and Cian Healy,' said James Lowe ahead of Saturday's quarter-final against Scarlets. 'Some of the best days of your life are when you win silverware together. For Ireland we have been able to do that recently but we haven't been able to transfer that with Leinster. It doesn't mean that because you have won with Ireland you are going to win with Leinster. 'You still have to come back here and perform on the biggest of days and under the most amount of pressure. That's what we want to do. We can't let Cian Healy leave Leinster without another silver medal around his neck again. 'It's not doing him justice, it's not doing Ross Byrne justice.' For Healy, retirement awaits. For Byrne it's a new life in and with Gloucester. Leinster legend Cian Healy. Pic: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho For Lowe and eleven other Leinster players, there is so much more business to attend to before their summer holidays having been named in the British and Irish Lions touring squad. Lowe was one of the first players up for media duties two weekends ago. When a swarm of them donned red for the first time at a get-together in London he was asked about the arcane views of Willie John McBride when it came to the foreign-born contingent. Lowe is one of three players in Andy Farrell's squad born in New Zealand, there are two Aussies and two more from South Africa. Some qualified for their respective Six Nations countries through residency, others through lineage. McBride didn't see any such subtleties either way. To the former Ireland and Lions captain the presence of seven southern hemisphere-born players in a named squad of 28 simply 'bothered' him. Lowe's response to it was both measured and impactful. Everybody's journey is different, he said, adding that his just didn't happen to start in Ireland. The hope is that this proves to be an isolated thorn and not just the first in a bed of them come Australia. 'I don't think you can question anyone's want or desire to represent Ireland or Scotland or England or Wales,' he added this week. Not being born here, I don't think anyone's going to question any of us. 'I don't think you are going to question Bundee's want and desire every time he gets the opportunity, [or] Jamo, Mack to any extent. We are very, very fortunate that we fell into that category. We've taken it with both arms and I think we've left our mark on the Irish jersey.' The same, he said, applies for Scotland's foreign-born Lions legion. A trip of a lifetime awaits all 38 of the tourists. Lowe got a glimpse of just how big the whole Lions pack really is in London when told there was something in the region of 90 staff employed to cater for the squad and all ancillary operations. He was introducing himself to the same people three times in the one day, such was the blizzard of faces and voices and the schedule involved. The best part, though? Having a beer with men who will morph from enemies into friends in the coming weeks. 'Like, you genuinely have a serious hate for these people and then you meet them in a context of 'we are on the same journey together, about to tour Australia', and you need to break down these barriers because we're all in the same boat, going in the same direction and we want to succeed. 'So it was cool in that sense and, like I said, some people who when they are on a rugby pitch you kinda hate and then I'm sitting down having a beer with them and 'jeez, you're kind of like me...' Then I remember they hate me as well but I think we're kinda normal. So, yeah, it was cool. It was nice.'
RTÉ News
08-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Caelan Doris injury a cruel blow after four years of work for Ireland's most durable player
There's a cruel irony that Ireland's most durable international will see his British and Irish Lions hopes robbed by injury. Caelan Doris's place on this summer's Lions tour of Australia would have been in no doubt before last Saturday's Investec Champions Cup defeat to Northampton Saints. The pain of the semi-final defeat has now been amplified by the shoulder surgery that has ended his Lions hopes for another four years. In 2021, Doris was never in contention for the tour of South Africa. Back then, the number 8's fleeting international career had stalled after he wisely sat out the Six Nations to properly address his concussion issues. While the Lions were taking on the Springboks, Doris was getting back up to speed with Ireland against Japan and USA that summer, and over the course of this four-year cycle, he grew from prospect to captain under Andy Farrell. In the 45 games Ireland have played in the last four years, Doris has played 44 of them, with the 2025 Six Nations trip to Wales the only game he's missed in that time. Of those 44 games, 43 have been in the starting team. Seven days ago, the Lions captaincy appeared to be a straight shootout between him and Maro Itoje (below), before sport's cruel hand intervened. Doris turned 27 last month, so he is still on course to be in his prime years when the New Zealand tour rolls around in 2029. That would have been scant consolation for him as he watched 12 of his Leinster team-mates, and three more Ireland colleagues, celebrate their inclusion. One comfort will be the empathy in that Leinster squad. Andrew Porter and Cian Healy know what he's going through. Four years ago, Porter's first Lions tour was over before it started, a toe injury in a Pro14 game against Glasgow Warriors seeing him ruled out. The loosehead prop will now have a chance to make up for lost time in 2025. The last Lions tour to Australia in 2013 was a painful one for Cian Healy. Odds on at the time to be the starting loosehead in the Test series, Healy's campaign was ended 32 minutes into the second match of the tour when he was stretchered off with an ankle injury. Confirmation that Doris would miss out was the one sour note from what was an otherwise historic day for Irish rugby. With Farrell (below) as head coach and several of his Ireland assistants now part of the Lions system, it came as no surprise that green was the dominant colour on the board when the squad was named this afternoon. In total, Farrell included a record 15 Ireland players, with 12 from England, eight from Scotland and two Welsh as part of his 38-man touring party. He also hasn't ruled out making one or two additions before they depart for Australia in late June. "Keep fighting and we'll be watching," was his message. Ireland's poor finish to the Six Nations, and Leinster's Champions Cup collapse against Northampton will have given him food for thought, but he ultimately wasn't swayed by those struggles, and says "credit in the bank" did sway some of his calls across the full squad. Several of those Leinster players looked guaranteed to be involved. Dan Sheehan, Andrew Porter, Josh van der Flier and Jamison Gibson-Park were never going to miss out, while there was no doubt that Connacht's Bundee Aki and Munster's Tadhg Beirne would also be included. Other Irish players would have been nervously waiting as Ieuan Evans listed out the names alphabetically from the stage at the O2 in London. Jack Conan can be thankful for his surname as he didn't have long to wait before hearing his name called. Four years ago, the back row hit his career-best form coming into the tour in South Africa and started all three Tests, but with the series played in empty stadiums due to Covid-19, he didn't get the true Lions experience. "I think the crowd and the atmosphere and the energy around the Lions is so much to do with the fans and everyone who travels, that sea of red that everyone always talks about, so it was what it was in 2021," he told RTE Sport last week. "It was something I never thought I'd do. It's not something that I ever thought was on my radar because to that point, I was kind of in and out internationally a lot. "Whatever happens this year happens, it would be an incredible honour and a joy to go again." James Ryan is another who would have felt an enormous weight lifted off his shoulders this afternoon. It was one of the major calls in 2021 when Warren Gatland overlooked him, and he may have been fearing the worst this year when an arm injury struck last month. The 28-year-old will finally get his chance this summer. With so many Irish players included, there were no shock omissions this time around, with Sam Prendergast and Robbie Henshaw the two most notable to miss out, although both would have come into this week with hope of being involved rather
The 42
25-04-2025
- Sport
- The 42
Kelleher to captain much-changed Leinster against Scarlets
RÓNAN KELLEHER WILL captain a much-changed Leinster for the first time away to the Scarlets in the URC on Saturday evening. [KO: 5.15pm; Live RTÉ Two and Premier Sports 2]. Meanwhile, academy back Ruben Moloney will make his senior Leinster debut off the bench. With a Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton on the horizon on Saturday week, Leo Cullen has rotated heavily for the trip to Wales. Kelleher starts alongside Cian Healy and Thomas Clarkson in the front row, with Ryan Baird selected in the second row alongside Brian Deeny. Will Connors is named at openside having returned from injury, with the back row completed by Alex Soroka and James Culhane, both of whom played in last week's comprehensive win at home to Ulster. Ross Byrne is at out-half, partnered by Fintan Gunne, as Ciarán Frawley moves to full-back. Jamie Osborne moves to centre, where he is partnered by Liam Turner. Jimmy O'Brien and Andrew Osborne have been named on the wing. Leinster are top of the URC with 14 wins and 67 points from 15 games, while Scarlets are among the league's congested middle: they are ninth on 38 points, but just three points behind fifth-placed Benetton. Leinster (vs Scarlets) 15. Ciarán Frawley 14. Andrew Osborne Advertisement 13. Liam Turner 12. Jamie Osborne 11. Jimmy O'Brien 10. Ross Byrne 9. Fintan Gunne 1. Cian Healy 2. Rónan Kelleher CAPTAIN 3. Thomas Clarkson 4. Ryan Baird 5. Brian Deeny 6. Alex Soroka 7. Will Connors 8. James Culhane Replacements: 16. Gus McCarthy 17. Jack Boyle 18. Rabah Slimani 19. Diarmuid Mangan 20. Scott Penny 21. Cormac Foley 22. Charlie Tector 23. Ruben Moloney
