“We know what we are capable of,” Caelan Doris insisted, not long after his side had run England’s starters into the ground.
“We needed to get back to doing things our way,” the Ireland captain explained, when asked about the half-time chat at Lansdowne Road. “There was a feeling, at the end of the first half, that we were going to break them, a little bit, that when we were getting into their 22 and score zone, that things were going to happen for us, if we got a little bit quicker ball and continued to do things our way. That was the message.”
And break England they did. Bundee Aki certainly busted three of them as he rampaged through Marcus Smith and careened into Alex Mitchell and Tommy Freeman on his way to the tryline. England emptied everything into the opening 50 minutes but their lead was now gone. Jack Crowley replaced Sam Prendergast, kept foot to the floor and pinned England back with smart kicking. The man that helped finish off England was the one hiding in plain sight (behind two locks).
Lowe perfectly executed Ireland’s ‘Trojan Horse’ play, crouching behind Tadhg Beirne and Iain Henderson, as they set two England defenders, then bursting out and through the gap. Off his right shoulder, Garry Ringrose was in support, spoiling him for choice. He opted for Beirne, to his left. As the Munster captain was charging for the line, Lowe swung away from play and released a primal roar. Minutes later, he was shrugging off Freeman and slipping in Dan Sheehan for the bonus-point try. A hat-trick of try assists to cap off a performance that saw the Leinster winger make five line breaks and 123 metres off 16 carries.
Former Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll perfectly summed up why he would not fancy tackling Lowe. “He’s all hips and big arse! He’s powerful with that low centre of gravity. Has an unbelievable capacity to go again, when it looks as though he’s tripping up.”
James is a big-game player. He has the ability to create things from nothing.
Simon Easterby clearly had no doubts in handing Lowe the No.11 jersey for such a crucial game, despite the 32-year-old only playing 80 minutes since November’s clash against Australia. “James is a big-game player,” said Easterby. “He has the ability to create things from nothing. He has a nice feel, in terms of the kicking game. He was good when he came into camp, and we felt like we needed that bit of experience, and someone that can break a game up the way Lowey can. That proved the case.”
Those game-breaking moments were heaped reminders of what Lowe brings to the Ireland attack. He went into last summer’s tour to South Africa with a one-in-two scoring strike-rate for Ireland. In his six appearances since, he has failed to score (his longest Test wait) and some of his naysayers insist he would not be in the team were it not for his punishing left boot.
Ireland’s first-choice wingers, Lowe and Hansen, lack top-line speed but they are key cogs in this Ireland set-up. England had a nightmare under the high ball last Saturday, with Lowe and Hansen up, contesting, claiming and disrupting all night. Both get stuck in and are turnover threats.
Lowe and Jamison Gibson-Park are the Ireland lightning rods and the men given that looser licence to play what they see. Against England, the brief was full-throttle when Ireland had the ball. It did not always pay off but Ireland did not veer off-track and there was justice for that bravery when the pair linked up for that opening try. England simply ran out of gas.
Up next for Lowe is a Scotland side he has enjoyed facing, in recent years. He scored in the corner to break the Scots’ long resistance, last time out at Murrayfield, and needed only 64 seconds to pierce their defences in the 2023 World Cup pool stages.
On Sunday, Lowe will share the pitch with another player that needed the World Rugby residency rules to give him the Test shot his talent deserves – Duhan van der Merwe.
Van der Merwe’s tendency is often to drift inside, looking to help, but recent years have seen him more disciplined and holding his position.
The first proper glimpse Irish supporters got of the George native was in 2018. Ireland had just embarked on a Grand Slam-winning campaign but van der Merwe was on duty for Edinburgh at Myreside. He faced a Leinster side featuring Gibson-Park, Scott Fardy, Fergus McFadden and Ross Byrne, scoring his side’s fourth try in a 26-24 victory. In the space of seven days, in March of that year, he scored three tries in wins over Munster and Connacht. Edinburgh already knew they had a gem. Everyone else in Scotland was now counting down the days until he was eligible.
Van der Merwe’s Test debut arrived in October 2020 and he faced Ireland, soon after. Scotland were trailing 25-9 when their big winger made an opportune snipe and outpaced Jacob Stockdale and Johnny Sexton to the tryline. He has been shut out in four appearances since, with Scotland’s losing spin now extending to 10 straight games.
Ireland have also gone after him in defence, and profited. In that 2020 defeat, it was Peter O’Mahony that rode his tackle and crashed over in the corner for the final try. Van der Merwe vacated his wing and could not scramble back in time to prevent a diving Mack Hansen scoring in the 2023 Six Nations – the last time the sides met at Murrayfield. Jack Conan bounced Van der Merwe off for the clincher, in the same match. During the World Cup group stage defeat later that year, he found himself drawn in-field and could not prevent Hugo Keenan from scoring.
Van der Merwe has worked hard with Edinburgh and Scotland’s coaches to tighten up the defensive side of his game. His tendency is often to drift inside, looking to help, but recent years have seen him more disciplined and holding his position. His raw pace, on many occasions, has got his side out of trouble – in last year’s Six Nations clash with Ireland, he made up five metres, over a dash of 40, on Garry Ringrose to prevent an intercept try.
Following the opening Six Nations weekend, many writers and pundits were tasked with selecting their form Lions XV. Lowe was the consensus pick – ahead of Van der Merwe, Josh Adams and Caden Murley. Still, if you asked those same people to select a team to face Australia this weekend, Van der Merwe would get most No.11 jerseys. When he gets his whirr on, he is a scintillating player to watch and a conundrum to stop.
As it stands, Lowe and Van der Merwe may end up as room-mates. If the Ireland winger can prove that lightning rod in another couple of championship games, Andy Farrell will be tempted to bring both game-breakers to Australia.
As much as Farrell may want Lowe and Van der Merwe at his disposal, one could easily miss out after those 50/50 debates.
What tees up Sunday’s game is that additional sub-plot – two class yet imperfect left wingers facing off in a season when, in reality, only one of them may get a ticket Down Under. Both are specialists in their position and, when playing, it is either the 11 jersey or, rarely, the replacements bench. Van der Merwe had one outing at right wing while at Montpellier, in 2017, while Lowe once played full-back for the Chiefs.
Any would-be selector that has tried piecing together a Lions squad, already, will confirm how hotly contested certain positions are going to be. Barring the 2017 tour to New Zealand (when there were 41 players), Lions squads have initially included 37. If Farrell is restricted to a similar number, taking two out-and-out left wingers may feel a luxury. Versatile players like Marcus Smith, Tadhg Beirne, Blair Kinghorn and Robbie Henshaw hold an edge when the final calls are being made.
As much as Farrell may want Lowe and Van der Merwe at his disposal, one could easily miss out after those 50/50 debates. Sunday may well be that loser-leaves-town showdown, and it will be a fascinating contest within a contest. Another layer to the Murrayfield mélange.
