Latest news with #TackleYourFeelings
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
The Making of James Lowe
Though this summer's Tour to Australia will be James Lowe's first in Lions red, he knows full well what to expect. The Leinster star had actually played against The British & Irish Lions in 2017, lining up for the Maori All Blacks as they were felled 32-10 by Warren Gatland's tourists. Eight years later, Lowe stands at the peak of his powers, his blend of pace, power and an unerring left boot marking him out as one of the most electrifying wingers in world rugby. As he prepares to make history as one of the select few to have played for and against the Lions, we examine how he came to cross the divide. High and Lowe Lowe was born in Nelson in New Zealand's South Island and it was soon apparent that he was destined to star in sport. He excelled in athletics and even represented the New Zealand Under-15 basketball team before deciding to focus on his rugby, but not before a bout with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis left him bedridden as a teenager. 'I was very active as a kid, and the one thing I was really good at was sports. Sport was good for me. It kept me out of trouble, and that kept my parents happy,' revealed Lowe to mental wellbeing campaign Tackle Your Feelings. 'The arthritis happened so quickly that my dad reckoned I was joking. 'He thought I was over sport and tried to scare me out of that mindset by threatening me with moving schools and stuff!' To be honest, I was kind of happy that I could stay at home and play the PlayStation all day, things like that. But looking back now, I can remember nights sitting by the fire because the warmth would help me to move. I remember being carried to the toilet, showered, and bathed. It was a weird stage of life. 'When the diagnosis finally came, I went through a pretty tough patch. It was something that presented me with a real physical and mental challenge. It took almost two years before medication began to fix it. 'Coming through that, I realised how lucky I was to be able to play rugby. To be able to get through it, develop resilience and stay true to myself. Man, I'm pretty lucky to be here now.' An Unexpected Journey After his recovery, Lowe quickly set about making up for lost time, earning a place with Super Rugby outfit the Chiefs after a string of sensational performances for provincial side Tasman. In 2017, the very same year he lined up against the Lions, the seeds for his conversion to red were sown as he travelled halfway across the globe to link up with Leinster. The decision to leave home was not an easy one to make but it quickly paid dividends, yielding a host of honours with the Dublin side including four league titles and a Champions Cup crown. Selection to Ireland's squad followed almost immediately upon the completion of the three-year residency period in November 2020 and Lowe hit the ground running, scoring on his debut against Wales. He later broke the deadlock against the country of his birth in a home victory over New Zealand and later helped deliver an historic Test series win away to the All Blacks in 2022, along with back-to-back Six Nations successes, including a Grand Slam in 2023. As you can tell, this meant a lot. My @druidsglen Moment of the Year is beating New Zealand in front of an awesome crowd.#rugbyawards22 #druidsmoment22 — James Lowe (@JamesLowe_03) May 16, 2022 Earlier this year, Lowe became a fully-fledged Irish citizen, following in the footsteps of his national teammates and fellow Lions Jamison Gibson-Park and Bundee Aki. Chest swelling with pride, Lowe told Irish Rugby TV: 'We've had two beautiful children (Nico and Renn) here, and we see our future in Ireland. 'I remember when I first arrived here by myself, it was pitch black at 4.25 in the afternoon in November! It has gone by so, so quick. 'We've loved our time here, we've loved what rugby has given us. The opportunities that it has presented, and then to represent Ireland in rugby has been one of the best experiences of our lives. 'It's something that we cherish every day and hopefully, moving forward, a couple more kids will be able to play for Ireland. 'Moving to the other side of the world is tough. You leave the safety net of family and friends, but landing here, playing rugby with Leinster, I already had 40 friends as it was. 'All the partners, past and present, have helped that transition. The staff made all of the little bits that you don't think about moving to the other side of the world so much easier. I'll forever be grateful of that. 'What the Irish people have done for us has just filled us with confidence and joy, feeling accepted, and we're just able to go out there and be ourselves and play good rugby and try to be good people. 'We've absolutely loved it. We've loved Ireland and loved the Irish people and how accepting everyone's been of us. We'll forever be grateful.' There and Back Again Eight years on from lining up against the Lions, Lowe's journey has now come full circle. 🛫 🦁Congratulations to the four Leinster Rugby backs who have named in the 2025 @lionsofficial squad. 💪James Lowe, Jamison Gibson-Park, Hugo Keenan and Garry Ringrose. 🔵#NeverLessThanEverything — Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) May 8, 2025 Reflecting on that fateful day in the pouring rain at Rotorua, he told RTE: 'I played full-back that evening and I'm pretty sure I had Rieko Ioane on one wing and Nehe Milner-Skudder on the other – so I was the dud at the back compared to those two!' I think everyone would admit that was their first actual Test match, the first one they properly turned up for. They blew us off the park in terms of intensity, the basics of the game, the ferocity at the breakdown. 'We were beaten off the park that day, and we went into the game with a boatload of confidence. Conor Murray was putting up box kicks on me, Sexto [Johnny Sexton] was screaming, 'go at his left foot!' and all that sort of stuff. It was an introduction into what it actually meant to the boys playing for the Lions and a level of intensity that was unmatched.' Selection to a Tour is the pinnacle for any player representing the home unions but Lowe knows they face a tough task against the Wallabies. He added: 'I know Joe Schmidt at the helm and he coached Ireland for a long time. 'I hate hearing people writing teams off and Australia are definitely going up. They've got some freakish athletes coming through. 'The team that you scout Monday-Friday can be completely different than the team you play on a Saturday. 'If you're off your game away from home with a crowd that's baying for blood and a ref that can be influenced by a crowd, it's only natural that it's going be tough.' Lowe has never been one to shy from a challenge, however, and he will relish the chance to make his mark when he heads Down Under.
Irish Examiner
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Munster's Tom Farrell nominated for Men's Players' Player of the Year
Munster's Tom Farrell has been named as one of the nominees for the OCC Consulting Men's Players' Player of the Year. Farrell joins Jamison Gibson-Park, Caelan Doris, and his provincial teammate Tadhg Beirne on the prestigious shortlist for the award often regarded as the highest individual honour in Irish men's rugby. The winner will be the player that has received the most votes from their fellow players in recognition of their peers' efforts and excellence throughout the season. Last year's winner was Bundee Aki. Read More Sciath na Scol: St Patrick's Girls National School just too strong for Togher In the women's category, Dorothy Wall has received a timely morale boost following news of a long-term injury setback, with her teammates nominating her for the OCC Consulting Women's Players' Player of the Year. Wall is shortlisted alongside Amee-Leigh Costigan, Aoife Dalton, and Niamh O'Dowd, each of whom played pivotal roles in a season of continued progress for the Irish women's side. Returning to host the awards evening at the Aviva Stadium on May 28th are former players Andrew Trimble and Barry Murphy. In addition to celebrating on-field excellence, the night will honour off-field achievements, including a special tribute to the Tackle Your Feelings campaign - an initiative backed by hundreds of Rugby Players Ireland's members - ahead of its 10th anniversary later this year.
Irish Times
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Gordon D'Arcy: Climbing that injury recovery mountain builds resilience and makes you stronger
The Rugby Players Ireland campaign, Tackle Your Feelings (TYF), brought into the public forum the importance of taking care of mental health and wellbeing in a proactive manner, just as you would when it comes to the physical side of being a professional athlete. Leinster, Ireland and soon to be Lions prop Andrew Porter spoke brilliantly about the challenges he faced in trying to process losing his mum, Wendy, at a young age. He was one of several elite rugby players who have highlighted how they cope with the emotional highs and lows of being involved in high-profile sport. The goal is trying to maintain an equilibrium which can be very difficult at times, and to be honest I rarely achieved that across my career. I discovered, poignantly at times, that joy and particularly failure, need to be processed. No one gets a free pass in that respect. If you care, if it matters, it can hurt. It showed an openness and understanding that allowed him to push through the acute disappointment and move forward A TYF social media post caught my attention, a quote from Caelan Doris who remarked: 'It's not nice to welcome those feelings and emotions, to sit with them and process them properly, but that's probably the best way to do it.' READ MORE He was reflecting on Leinster's defeat to La Rochelle in 2022. It showed an openness and understanding that allowed him to push through the acute disappointment and move forward, potentially channelling it as a fuel source to drive him to the elite standards he reaches regularly. It has been a brutal couple of weeks for the entire Leinster squad, having gone from hot favourites to win the Champions Cup to losing a home semi-final to the Northampton Saints. The shoulder injury that Doris suffered in the match required surgery. His dream of captaining and playing for the British & Irish Lions in Australia this summer has been kicked down the road for another four years. It's easy to empathise. I enjoyed plenty of success, but by the same token, there were aspects of being a professional rugby player that I found incredibly challenging on and off the pitch. Gordon D'Arcy is chased by Catalin Draguceanu of Romania at the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Photograph: Patrick Bolger/Inpho At the start of my career there was no room to show emotion, weakness or vulnerability, and the thought of opening yourself up and acknowledging those feelings that accompanied mistakes, setbacks or failures was alien. That's putting it politely. The learned behaviour was to numb the pain, bottle it up and then try to ignore it. I did this as a young player when I joined the professional ranks, the only respite in and around the 1999 Rugby World Cup when I spent a couple of weeks under the protective influence of Conor O'Shea. The standards he set were way in advance of the time. He enjoyed everyone's company, drank modestly and worked incredibly hard. He was a really positive role model. I struggled to settle in Leinster at that point because I felt I had nobody to talk to and lacked the self-awareness to understand that I needed to address these feelings. That was probably the first time I opened myself up what was going on inside By not tackling my emotions, I reacted in the worst possible way, inevitably, I suppose, based on my immaturity. A negative downward spiral ensued. Matt Williams shook me to my senses by giving me an ultimatum: change or leave. That was probably the first time I opened myself up what was going on inside. Those memories still make me feel vulnerable and uneasy to this day but thankfully I realised then that I needed to ask for help to turn my career around, rather than allow my feelings to drown in a sea of negativity. I learned very quickly that people will always help, but as my former Ireland coach Declan Kidney said to me around this time, when you are on the ground there will be hands offered, but you must reach out to take the hand. The hardest part of this process as a 20-year-old was acknowledging that I was the problem and the solution. When you take control of the situation, it is cathartic. It becomes a source of personal pride that you were able to turn things around and you make a deposit in the bank of resilience that will stand to you the next time you feel overwhelmed. Caelan Doris will be down over this injury but his willingness to address those feelings will carry him through. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho There is always another test or challenge around the corner. I struggled at times in the alpha environment off the field in Irish camp. I broke my arm in 2008, spent a year on the sidelines and on my return had to reinvent myself as a player. I had to confront my physical mortality as a player in 2015. Each time a different part of me was tested, and I found out a little bit about myself. It is too easy to rattle off the saying, 'if it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger', but I believe that while we find out a lot about ourselves in the tough times, nobody ever enjoys them. I didn't. I cried in private. I leaned on people I trusted. More often than not, I came out the other side and took quiet satisfaction from being able to last through the parts that I found tough. For me fear was always a driver, not wanting to let those negative emotions and thoughts win. It is different for everyone, deeply personal, but when we get through hard times, there is always a moment that draws a smile. Andy Farrell has spoken about empathy and vulnerability in his approach to coaching and engaging with players That moment will seem a lifetime away now for Doris. What will stand to him is his ability and willingness to address those feelings, the mental resilience that he has shown. In doing that, he becomes such an important role model for anyone within his sphere of influence. Andy Farrell has spoken about empathy and vulnerability in his approach to coaching and engaging with players; Doris was a natural fit as a leader within this type of set-up. This is unquestionably the toughest part of this young man's career. Time helps in these situations, and I know that he will get to a point when he accepts the injury and what comes with it. Climbing the recovery mountain builds resilience and makes you stronger. The struggle doesn't define you; how you choose to respond does. I'm looking forward to seeing how he uses the setback as a springboard for future success.
