James Lowe scores a try against La Rochelle despite the efforts of Jack Nowell during the quarter-final at the Aviva Stadium. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inphois squatting against the post at the Hill 16 end of Croke Park, while his team-mates kick balls towards, at or over him.A few yards from the trophy, GAA president Jarlath Burns looks on, smiles for a picture and gathers people around looking on to the pitch like a dutiful host making sure his guests are comfortable.
“No, I wouldn’t say that there would be anything of this sort of historical significance, no,” he says. Lowe also knows because Darcy told him so, that Croke Park magnifies everything. It supersizes performance: if it’s a bad performance it is crushing and if it’s a good performance you soar. He has played in three finals and lost in all three. Last month before they played against Leicester Tigers, Lowe called it a “pretty s**t stat to have”.
James Lowe during Leinster Rugby Captain's Run at Croke Park. 'it’s pretty special and an absolute privilege and tomorrow’s going to be one heck of a day.' Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho At school he was coached by Andrew Goodman, who will move from Leinster to Ireland at the end of the season until 2027 as backs coach.
“It’s funny, it’s such a fickle game because we’re talking how many points in those last two finals?” he says. “So, we need to be across absolutely everything. They are physical in contact as well, so we know not to not to miss tackles. I mean fingers crossed I don’t have to make too many tackles because that will be a good day at the office.