Advertisement League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Leinster wing James Lowe.Tom Maher/INPHO 'It's not going to be long until we knock on the door and knock it over' James Lowe is key to Leinster’s plans to end their wait for a trophy. 8.06am, 2 May 2025 Share options LEINSTER’S MOST RECENT Champions Cup success came at the end of James Lowe’s first season with the province. He earned a winner’s medal but didn’t play in the semi-final or final. It wasn’t because of an injury. Instead, Lowe missed out due to a limit of two non-European players in matchday squads. Scott Fardy and Jamison Gibson-Park were picked. Lowe did at least get to start that season’s PRO14 final win over Scarlets. Lowe has played in three Champions Cup finals over the past three seasons, but one can only imagine that playing in a victorious decider would be all the sweeter for him given the frustration of 2018. Tomorrow, he gets the chance to help Leinster into a fourth consecutive final in this competition. Northampton stand in the way. Despite their pain in the Champions Cup over these last three seasons, Lowe says belief is still strong. “I mean, how many points have we lost by in the last three years, you know? It is what it is, it’s the bounce of a ball, it’s the call of a ref, it’s all these little things that sort of happen,” says the left wing. “Imagine if we sat here and it was like, ‘Jesus, I’d love to get to a knock-out game in Europe. Jesus, I’d love to get to a knock-out game in the URC.’ “We’re there or thereabouts and it’s not going to be long until we knock on the door and knock it over. “It could easily be similar to 2017/18. We’re there in both competitions every single year and when it happens, hopefully everyone will be singing our praises. “We’re sitting nicely and it comes down to performance this weekend. If we can get across this hurdle, we’ll worry about the next one, but I guess all eyes are on Northampton and the beasts that they are.” Lowe is of the belief that Leinster have a squad young enough to hugely add to the province’s trophy cabinet in the coming years. Lowe is a key man for Leinster.James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO He looks at the likes of 27-year-old captain Caelan Doris and 26-year-old hooker Dan Sheehan as the prime reason why. “People say, ‘Oh, they don’t win finals,’ but we’re there every single year, this group of players, and a large chunk of them are going to be here for another five years,” says Lowe. Advertisement “You look at the age of some of them, you look at Sheeno, Caelan, those boys, they’re still going to be here and we’ve been to three finals in a row. We’ve come up just short against three, obviously La Rochelle twice and Toulouse, but they had fantastic teams as well. “Are we going to hopefully get it this year? Fingers crossed, I’d love to be in another final and hopefully get another chance because we’re knocking on the door and it’s going to open eventually. “It starts off this weekend again in the semi-final against another opponent who I think in the next five years we’re probably going to come up against them again. “So look, we love it. We hate falling short but it’s all part of it, isn’t it?” Lowe is full of praise for Northampton. He recalls how they caused Leinster stress in last season’s semi-final at Croke Park, launching a late comeback effort that came up just short. The final scoreline of 20-17 was a fair reflection of the contest, according to Lowe. He has been looking at how Northampton’s attacking kicks can cause havoc and while he points out that losing the talismanic Courtney Lawes has been a blow for Saints, Lowe highlights the impact of 20-year-old back row Henry Pollock, “who is playing some great football at the moment.” Yet there’s no doubting Lowe’s confidence in the Leinster team he is part of. Their attack shredded Harlequins and Glasgow in the last two rounds of this competition. Lowe says the big scorelines have come from “doubling down on the basics and taking the easiest space that we can” and pinpoints Leinster’s defence as being key to creating attacking chances. The combination of Jordie Barrett and attack coach Tyler Bleyendaal both arriving from the Hurricanes has had an impact, while Lowe also highlights how “the big freak” RG Snyman has opened up new offloading possibilities. Lowe at Leinster training.Nick Elliott / INPHO Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO Lowe believes that 22-year-old out-half Sam Prendergast has added a new dimension to Leinster’s game too. “Sammy’s come a long way, it’s been awesome to see him flourish and then it’s probably coincided with how we’re trying to play the game and he’s a magician half the time,” says Lowe. “Some of the crazy stuff he pulls… he’ll hit a spiral and, like, no one’s even wanting him to hit a spiral and all of a sudden he’ll go against the grain and pin one in the corner. “He does it at training. You can tell that he’s played GAA growing up because his ability to even kick the ball up to himself, he just tries things and they come off because he actually does it every day at training and it’s so annoying because you just don’t know what’s going to happen, but then there’s a brilliance in that as well.” Lowe is impressed with how Prendergast is taking every step up in his stride. “It’s kind of a beautiful thing to watch. You see every year, there’s someone coming through or a group of people coming through and you hope that they figure it out and some people do and some people don’t and that’s the unfortunate nature of the beast. “And Sammy’s figured it out. It was November there or thereabouts, he got some good minutes and then going into the Six Nations, obviously it was him and Jack going at it head to head and he took his opportunity. “Those two worked well together during the Six Nations and Sammy has come back here and he’s absolutely flourished. He has grabbed the bull by the horns and he’s starting to tell people what to do, which is always nice to see in a young fella. “He has massive influence on a game. I remember against England, he said everyone was just chirping him the whole time, just trying to get into his head, and he’s pretty cool, calm and collected. “At half-time, he was like, ‘Man, those guys, Jesus, they’re all just yelling at me the whole time, what am I meant to do?’ “But he took it in his stride and played well that Six Nations, even these last two games against Quins and Glasgow, he was like, ‘Why does everyone just yell at me the whole time?’ Lowe has high praise for Prendergast.Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO “Obviously you see a young 10 and you want to get in his head, you want to get after him and put him under as much pressure as you can but he’s stood up to it so far so hopefully he can keep on going.” The fact that Lowe enjoys seeing young players come into the set-up and thrive underlines his role as a senior figure these days. He’s still only 32 but there has been plenty of water under the bridge since that first season with Leinser in 2017/18. “I’ve played a lot of rugby, been to a lot of semis and finals and came up short a heap of times but absolutely loved it, representing Ireland, getting married in Vegas, two kids,” says Lowe. “Yeah, come a bloody long way and seen some people come and go, some highly influential people on mine and my wife’s lives. “And in a rugby sense as well getting to meet new people and travel to different places, play a different style of rugby in the cold, wet and windy rain, you could be in the back end of bloomin’ Wales or all of a sudden you’re in the south of France, basking in the sun. “So it’s awesome and the reflection piece is probably something you do at the end of every season but I’m loving the journey so far and hopefully a few more years until I get kicked out.” Murray Kinsella Viewcomments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “'It's not going to be long until we knock on the door and knock it over'”. 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