Don’t let the door slap on the way out James. On foot of rejecting a reduced, performance-related contract extension from Leinster in order to accept an offer in Japan from next season, James Lowe has been left out of the 36-man Ireland squad for their upcoming fixtures against Australia, Japan and New Zealand in the inaugural Nations Championship.
While it is an understandable decision, it is also a brutally cold one given the return on the initial investment in him as a project player. Lowe has been Ireland’s go-to left-winger for the last six seasons and provides a point of difference that is unique.
The notion that Lowe might be called up for Ireland from Japan for the next World Cup appears to have been knocked on the head in light of his exclusion.
The saga is a bad look for Irish rugby, and as Conor Murray argued in these pages last weekend, the outcome also looks like bad business.
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Jimmy O’Brien is now the only left-footed option among Ireland’s wingers, while Calvin Nash, Mack Hansen and Shayne Bolton are among the lengthy list of players ruled out from this squad through injury. That list most notably also contains Jack Crowley.
Why is James Lowe leaving Leinster?
This a particularly ill-timed blow for the Munster man, who had finally reasserted himself as Ireland’s first choice outhalf in the Six Nations when restored at 10 for the third round win over England, and then played the full 80 minutes in the victors over Wales and Scotland.
While his unavailability had been anticipated, the nature of his injury is a concern. However, Munster head coach Clayton McMillan recently explained: “He’s got a blood vessel issue in the back of his leg, which is good that something’s been identified. He’s got a plan around how to manage that but it literally is just a very obscure, unfortunate thing that was really hard to diagnose.
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“It’s not like a concussion, or a broken arm or leg, it’s something that could literally solve itself overnight, or it might take a month or two. And that’s not being cryptic, that’s just the nature of what he’s going through.”
In Crowley’s absence, it now looks like there’s a three-way tussle between Harry Byrne, Ciaran Frawley and Sam Prendergast for the 10 jersey for the against the Wallabies at a sold-out Allianz Stadium in Sydney on Saturday, July 4th.
As the latter will start this Friday’s URC final for Leinster at Croke Park (kick-off 7.30pm), Prendergast is best placed to start against Australia if he has a big game against the Bulls before the Ireland squad depart for Sydney on Monday.
Ryan Baird, Jack Boyle, Edwin Edogbo, Tom Farrell, Paddy McCarthy, Jude Postlethwaite and Andrew Porter have also been left out of the squad due to injury.
The sun may also have set on the Ireland career of Finlay Bealham, who is conspicuous in his absence from this squad, although he will feel he can still do something about that. However, Connacht will take pride in the inclusion of a trio of uncapped forwards – Billy Bohan, Sam Illo and Sean Jansen.
Prior to head coach Stuart Lancaster’s arrival,25-year-old Illo had started just two of his previous 31 games for the province over the last four seasons. But from Connacht’s opening game of the season at home to Benetton last September, his first URC start, Illo has looked like a player reborn and has effectively displaced Bealham as their first-choice tighthead, starting in 13 of his 18 appearances.
In the midst of an injury crisis among Irish looseheads, with three internationals sidelined for these fixtures, Bohan has had a remarkably breakthrough season, starting six of Connacht’s last seven games this season.
Number eight Jansen, who hails from Dunedin but is Irish-qualified through ancestry, is another to have blossomed out west this season.
Connacht lock Darragh Murray, who won his first Irish senior caps last summer before making his Six Nations debut against Scotland in March, has also been included in Andy Farrell’s squad. Proof that a rising tide lifts all boats.
Allowing for the injuries, this is a strong squad – even if the inclusion of Bohan and Illo, and the exclusion of Bealham and Lowe, is probably with one eye on next year’s World Cup. That said, as these three games kick-start the southern hemisphere leg of the Nations Championship, the scope for experimentation is perhaps limited.
After the game against the Wallabies match, Ireland will play Japan at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle on Saturday, July 11th before travelling to Auckland to face the All Blacks on Saturday, July 18th at Eden Park.
Ireland squad
Forwards (20): Tadhg Beirne, Billy Bohan*, Thomas Clarkson, Jack Conan, Caelan Doris, Tadhg Furlong, Sam Illo*, Cormac Izuchukwu, Sean Jansen*, Rónan Kelleher, Jeremy Loughman, Joe McCarthy, Darragh Murray, Tom O’Toole, Cian Prendergast, James Ryan, Dan Sheehan, Tom Stewart, Nick Timoney, Josh van der Flier/
Backs (16): Bundee Aki, Rob Baloucoune, Harry Byrne, Craig Casey, Nathan Doak, Ciaran Frawley, Jamison Gibson-Park, Robbie Henshaw, Hugo Keenan, Stuart McCloskey, Jimmy O’Brien, Tommy O’Brien, Jamie Osborne, Sam Prendergast, Garry Ringrose, Jacob Stockdale.
*uncapped
Fixtures
- Saturday, July 4th: Australia v Ireland; Allianz Stadium, Sydney, 11.10am Irish time
- Saturday, July 11th: Japan v Ireland; McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle, 11.10am Irish time
- Saturday, July 18th: New Zealand v Ireland, Eden Park, Auckland, 8.10am Irish time
