“There’s a mutual hatred” – Leinster’s James Lowe ramps up Munster rivalry ahead of weekend clash

The blue province host their red rivals at Croke Park on Saturday.

The New Zealand native has togged out for Leinster since joining from Super Rugby side Chiefs in 2017.

With six tries in 11 appearances against Munster, the Reds are an opponent the lightning-fast winger loves to play against.

Speaking ahead of the 80,000 sell-out tomorrow, the 32-year-old talked about his love of the historic derby match.

"It’s something that I seriously look forward to," Lowe said. "And there’s a mutual hatred between the boys. As much as I love to see them succeed and I play with a lot of them, you know, when it comes to it, if [Craig] Casey is in front of me, I don’t care, like if Calvin [Nash] is in front of me, don’t care.

"And I’m sure they’re saying the exact same thing on the other side.

He continued: "But at the end of the day, we will shake hands and hopefully see each other in November. It’s just a red and a blue jumper and when it comes to playing against each other, we don’t like each other.

"There was ‘Sexto’ [Johnny Sexton] and ‘ROG’ [Ronan O’Gara], they didn’t like each other, though that was quite funny. They were in different jumpers. So look, we’re looking forward to it, that’s for sure."

When asked by the Irish Independent reporter conducting the interview whether there was much sledging in the Ireland camp relating to the provincial rivalry, the father-of-one with another on the way said: "Ah, I dunno. There’s good people and bad people in all areas of the work life, isn’t there?

"So there’s always going to be a little bit of . . . and rugby, obviously, it’s a heated, physical exchange, and words can be said.

"But what happens on the field normally stays on the field," he added. "Nothing really boils over into the car park like the old days.

"Yeah, it’s water under the bridge a lot of the time, I’m too hard to get involved in it now, I just stir the pot from a distance."

The teams are expected to be named later this morning, so expect more to follow when the announcement is made.