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‘ON TRACK’ BOWE’S SIX NATIONS VIEW
SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP
But for Tommy Bowe, Ulster’s favourite son, he’ll watch the
RSB Six Nations Championship begin this weekend from
the sidelines.
The knee injury which ended his – and to a great extent
his country’s – World Cup ambitions last autumn, is
recovering well, but the galloping winger, the player
who brings Ulster, Ireland and Lions’ fans to their feet, is
patiently building up himself back to full fitness, hopeful
he might play an important role yet for his club in the
Guinness PRO12.
“It’s been difficult, having to wear an awkward brace for
so long, to have to look on while the guys are doing their
‘stuff’ for Ulster, and with Less Kiss on board now I was
really looking forward to a big, healthy year,” says the man
who may have invented the term ‘engaging’!
“But it’s actually been a lot harder for Lucy, who is a
darned good nurse but she didn’t expect to start married
life having a patient at home as well!
“What I can say is that if had a track to fitness, I’m on it!”
he quips. “Seriously, trust me to get a knee injury which
is way more complicated than we usually hear about,
and you have to deal with it. I’ve had a few bad injuries
and come through, and I’m working hard every day, and
there’s muscle growing fast and – barring setbacks – I
hope to play games for Ulster this season.”
He’s also targeting a place in the Ireland summer tour to
South Africa, then a really consistent campaign with Ulster
from August, and though he’s loathe to talk about it, he
has an ambition to be a three-time British and Irish Lion
in 2017.
“You have to have little things to aim for, in my case
they’re not that little I suppose! But, seriously, when you
see a player of the class of Stuart Olding suffering two
back-to-back cruciate injuries, and the elbow and head
knocks he’s had at such a young age, his return is truly
inspirational. It certainly makes me work harder and
think how much character he’s had to show,” says Bowe,
genuinely proud of his team-mate’s determination and
resilience to come back, often against the odds.
Tommy Bowe says he’s actually busier than ever when
he’s not able to play, other aspects of being an elite
athlete ‘kick’ in: “There are media events, some coaching
at schools, around Christmas it was crazy, ‘rehab’,
promoting a clothes and shoe line bearing my name, and
then, because you’re injured, invitations to do things go
‘through the roof’.”
And he admits that apart from having a coffee with
friends, spending as much time as possible with Lucy,
“my brain does somersaults, coming up with ideas for this
and that, business ideas etc. Then Lucy reins me in, thank
heavens!” he says.
Turning to the Six Nations he believes it’s going to be
one of the tightest Championships yet. There are many
factors in his thinking, new squads, the arrival of new
coaches with England and France, the injury toll on
his own beloved Ireland, and the failure of any of the
Championship sides to make the impact they would have
hoped at the World Cup.
“I look at Ireland, with Cian Healy, Marty Moore, Mike
Ross, Dan Tuohy, Peter O’Mahony, Iain Henderson and
the departed Paul O’Connell all out and you realise the
forward unit is going to be a relatively new one, and it
must fire early on.
“I believe Ireland will be competitive, and there’s the
incentive to be the first side to win the Six Nations three
times in a row, and that will be a target. Jared Payne, who
hadn’t played since the Italy game in the World Cup, has
played two superlative games for Ulster in the last couple
of weeks, everyone is ‘purring’ about him, and rightly so,
we see so much to his game, his rugby brain every time
he takes to the pitch,” says an admiring Bowe.
“And in Luke Marshall and Stuart McCloskey the squad
has arguably the form centres, and I’d really hope they get
a run-out. While he’s delighted his longtime wing partner –
and close friend – Andrew Trimble – is back ‘in the frame’.
“Trimby’s been through a lot, but he always comes back
stronger, and I’m hoping very much to see his name
on the team-sheet, though we’ll probably have a bit of
‘banter’ about that.
“As far as key players are concerned I was going to say
Rory, but to Rory Best captaincy is something he takes
in his stride, it’s more important to me that he has been
Ireland’s best player in the World Cup, he just got better
and better, and as a player he’s such a big influence on
how Ireland plays.
“To me the ‘crunch’ game is always the first one, win it
and we would travel to Paris with real confidence, and
there’s hardly a bigger ‘opener’ than Wales in Dublin on
Sunday,” he says, keenly aware of how the Welsh will want
to ‘get’ to Ireland, and knowing the quality of the players
in Warren Gatland’s panel having plied his trade so
successfully at Ospreys.
He believes Justin Tipuric is one of the best open-side
flankers in world rugby, and with skipper Sam Warburton
having played so little rugby, Bowe thinks he could make
a real impact.
He finds the coaching ‘match-up’ intriguing. “Two very
different personalities, but Joe and Warren have such
remarkable coaching records, they’re at the very top
of their own games. I’ve worked with both and been
successful with both, but I obviously would like Joe
Schmidt to come out on top on Sunday.”
Bowe thinks the surprise packets could be Scotland,
for he’s been impressed by the progress made under
Vern Cotter, an old ally of Joe’s and who seems to have
brought real stability to the international set-up, witness
that near-miss against Australia in the World Cup.
A semi-final was within the Scots’ grasp and, as hindsight
and video replays have endlessly shown Australia wasn’t
Ideally he’d be relaxing this evening, focussing on the next five or six
weeks of rugby wearing the green jersey of Ireland.