'As amazing as rugby is, it still takes away things. It takes you away from family'

James Lowe and his 10-month-old son Nico following Ireland’s victory over Italy on Sunday.

JAMES LOWE SITS back in the bowels of the Aviva Stadium, suited and booted in the aftermath of a player-of-the-match performance against Italy.

He’s in the middle of explaining how fortunate he is to be able to call rugby his job, and that he finds himself working for two teams that constantly strive to improve.

But it’s tough to view his day-job through that prism at all times, he says, because “as amazing as rugby is, it still takes away things. It takes you away from family…”

Lowe pauses.

“I got home from France last week and I was so grumpy. My poor wife, man, she had bloomin’–”

Lowe is cut off as Jack Conan bounds through a swinging door to carry out a drive-by assassination on his teammate.

“He’s always in bad form!” says Conan, mid-stride. “I roomed with him the last few days. Terrible form.”

“Jack clogged the toilet last night!” Lowe immediately jibes back.

“That’s a lie,” replies Conan, not even glancing in his rearview as he exits through the next set of doors.

“Yessss, Jacksy!” shouts Lowe, whose smile can’t hide his dissatisfaction at coming out second best in their slagging match.

The New Zealand-born wing resets. “Emmm… yeah, I got home from France, three hours’ sleep, and I was so grumpy at the world. She (Lowe’s wife, Arnica) took it in her stride as she always does, and she understands.”

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Rarely do you get to witness such a pronounced snapshot of the life of a pro rugby player: the trivialities of rooming with a fellow 31-year-old contrasted in real-time with the realities of home, where Arnica has spent the guts of the last fortnight tending to her and Lowe’s 10-month-old son, Nico.

But then, Lowe’s time away from his wife and their firstborn serves only to provide his family with a better life in the years ahead. Arnica accepted that of rugby a long time ago, even if Lowe still has to remind himself on occasion.

“Every now and then, you do have to step back and appreciate what it’s given you and where it’s taken you,” he says.

“At the end of the day, I love rugby and I’m going to do it for as long as I can.

“It’s a funny thing to try and juggle becoming a father and still trying to cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s of being a professional rugby player.

“It’s amazing and your priorities change,” adds Lowe, who notably handed his player-of-the-match medal to Andy Farrell’s son, Gabriel, following Ireland’s 36-0 win on Sunday. “It’s really cool.”

In any case, Lowe and his wife have themselves a good one in Nico, who typically sleeps uninterrupted from seven o’clock in the evening until the same time the next morning.

On the rare occasion that he does stir during the night, Lowe is left to sleep ahead of training the following day.

The Bealhams will know that scéal soon enough.

A buzz rippled through the Irish squad early last week when Irish tighthead Finlay headed back to Galway to welcome his and his wife Sarah’s new arrival, Joaquín.

Lowe beams as he recounts how the Connacht man “took it all in his stride” as he became a dad just days before starting against Italy at the Aviva.

“He got a phone call and was in the car. Then sort of nothing was heard. I heard [the following] morning, just flicked him a message saying, ‘I hope everything is alright.’

“Then we got off the [training] pitch and there was a photo of Bubba in our team chat. Everything went well and his wife Sarah was an absolute trooper, and she’s recovering well.

“Little Bubba Bealham running around, Joaquín. So yeah, he’s stoked. He’s heading back now. I’m absolutely stoked for him.

“It’s a baptism of fire having a child. The first few nights, you have no idea what the craic is. There is no book that can teach you anything.”

Bealham himself was on fire as Ireland deconstructed the Italian scrum, producing a performance that led his provincial coach Pete Wilkins to suggest on Tuesday that he should be in contention to displace Tadhg Furlong as Ireland’s incumbent tighthead in the weeks ahead.

Meanwhile, Lowe has taken his game to a different plane during his own first year of fatherhood.

Easily forgotten is the reality that he was dropped by Farrell and Ireland during the 2021 Six Nations, his suspect defensive instincts becoming exposed at test level and his work-rate — somewhat unfairly — coming into question among analysts and fans.

Lowe put in a mountain of work, particularly of his volition during the 2021 off-season, and it altered the course of his career.

He now ranks among Ireland’s best defenders, leading last year’s Six Nations for turnovers won. He has three in two games already this year: two interceptions as well as a choke-tackle reversal of Thomas Ramos in Marseille.

Couple that with his well-rounded attacking game — destructive carries, delicate hands and a dynamite left boot which has become one of Ireland’s greatest tactical assets — and you’re looking at one of the premier test wings in world rugby at the time of writing.

But at 31, and seemingly at the peak of his physical powers, Lowe still sees scope to elevate his game to a higher place still.

“I probably just want to get my hands on the ball more, I’m not going to lie,” he says. “[It’s about] trying to find ways of getting into the game.

“I dunno, I feel like things are falling into place pretty well,” Lowe adds. “Defensively, week on week, I’m getting good reads and picking off passes.

“I’m happy but obviously, we’re only two rounds in. I can’t just stop now.”