James Lowe's upbeat disposition encourages him to regulate emotion in a professional sporting world where results can inform mood. The frustration of defeat to Wales has been superseded by an enthusiasm for Sunday's match against France at the Aviva stadium.
The 28-year-old wing, who won his third cap in the Principality stadium, is positive by inclination which makes it easier to dispel disappointment or at least put it in context. A sense of humour, often trained in a good-natured way on teammates, is another coping mechanism. He’s serious when and where he needs to be.
That humour is never far from the surface and comes up abruptly when asked about his back three buddy, fullback Hugo Keenan. "Funnily enough he is such a nice bloke and he is the butt of many, many jokes as well. He is one that you can get an easy jab on. He's an amazing person on and off the pitch.
“He is a very good rugby player, huge IQ for someone so young. (He) reads the game well; he can’t really kick yet but he has a few years to learn that. He’s very good, ahead of the play in the way he scans, bossing forwards around, telling them where they need to be to create space for others. He is a very good rugby player and has a huge future in the game.”
Adverse comments
He's happy to disengage from criticism no matter the source. He's asked at one point what he thought of comments made by former England wing Chris Ashton who branded Lowe as slow. The response reveals his mindset in dealing with adverse comments. "He's actually one of the people who's been there and understands but 99 per cent of people who voice their opinion they're not the ones I care about or worry about.
“There’s a group of men in here who have set out on a mission to achieve something and we’ll tell each other square to the face. It’s a professional environment based on performance, we’re all in here going in the same direction, trying to achieve the same things and for me that’s all that really matters.”
The Welsh match marked his first game in 11 weeks following injuries that he found, “horrific, really annoying, two steps forward, one step back through the whole eight weeks of rehab. It started off with my groin and I thought I’d get my knee fixed at the same time. It was just tedious progress.”
There were a few rough edges, a little rustiness against Wales - he mentioned his defence for one of the tries - but there were other aspects of his game, in particular his kicking which was exemplary.
“I have always been a decent kicker of a ball. At international level there is more pressure coming, so we really had to shorten a lot of my steps leading into the kick. I have broken it so far down, to making sure that I am catching it static, taking one or two steps, and getting a full kick through.
“It was nice to get a couple of nice ones off the laces at the weekend. If it helps the team to get into some of the right areas in the field, it is what I am going to keep on doing.”
He's enamoured with France's style of rugby. "They've got some terrific athletes, Dupont at number nine, Teddy Thomas on the wing and the fellah on the other wing (Gabin Villiere); he's half the size of me and he's hitting people bigger than me, getting turnovers at the ruck. You don't normally see that, especially where I try and hang out.
“The dude’s (Thomas) electric. He’s deceptive, doesn’t look like he’s moving that quick and then all of sudden you’ve over-chased and he’s stepped three people on your inside. I’m actually weirdly a big fan of his. Fortunately Garry’s (Ringrose) normally on my inside and he’s pretty good at cleaning up my mess.
“Dupont is a common theme into everything that goes well with this French side. He’s an amazing player, to me the world’s best player at the moment.”
Aerial game
The indications are that Thomas, who scored two tries against Italy, will be replaced by Damien Penaud primarily for the latter's superior aerial game, an area in which France believe Ireland will attack them. Lowe continued: "You look at all those positives but everyone has got a weakness as well so it's about trying to exploit them.
“I mean the French defensive system, huge line speed, (and in) trying to shut down (the opposition) from the outside, the centres get very high but that also leaves gaps elsewhere. If you can punch a line inside, then get quick ball, all of a sudden, they’re on the back foot and in two minds whether to come forward or go back. There are always pluses to minuses of every defence so that’s what we’re going to try and exploit.”
