Tommy Bowe understands the virtue of patience after last Saturday's Six Nations Championship match against Italy. He covered substantial swathes of the Stadio Olimpico pitch, diligently chasing box-kicks and punts.
It’s a necessary evil, one item on a winger’s duty list, but compensation usually arrives in getting hands on the ball; usually but not always. Bowe endured a frustrating afternoon. Wherever he took up station the ball drifted away to another part of the pitch.
He smiled ruefully: “It was one of those games where I chased a lot of kicks and competed in that area of the pitch but from the attacking side of things, it didn’t come to my side too often. That’s the way these games go unfortunately. This weekend, if I’m involved, I’ll hopefully get more ball.”
Bowe conceded that Ireland coach Joe Schmidt was happy with some aspects of the performance, before adding, "I think there were opportunities we let go of. I'll never be happy not to touch the ball; I always want to be a part of it, I want to get the ball in my hands and to threaten.
“It was a good team performance to come away with a 26-3 (win) but there’s still a huge amount that we can improve on and look to gain momentum going forward now into the competition.”
Ireland’s right wing was quick to scotch the notion that Schmidt would accept rustiness as an excuse for a misfiring backline. “That’s something that Joe doesn’t let go. He feels we should be at the pinnacle of our powers in the first game, never mind the last one. It is something that we’ve had to look at and try to improve on.”
Bowe conceded that Jonathan Sexton offered an insight into his club-mate at Racing Metro 92 and France's left wing Teddy Thomas before pointing out that Saturday's visitors possess a very dangerous backline, individually and collectively.
“The one thing about them is, you think you have them contained, you think you have them on the back foot and (then) a little bit of brilliance or a bouncing ball (and they’re running free); they just seem to pick up on small mistakes. You really can’t switch off because they really do have some outstanding individuals.”
Bowe watched last year's victory over France at the Stade de France that enabled Ireland to claim the title on a friend's sofa. He screamed like everyone other Irish supporter when Vincent Debaty threw that pass, recalling the huge sigh of relief when the officials correctly adjudicated in Ireland's favour.
He’s known nothing else except tight, tension laden tussles with France, a state of affairs he doesn’t expect to change on Saturday.
