The Ireland winger dedicated the Six Nations win over France to a very special member of the Bowe family.
When Breda Bowe, grandmother to Tommy, passed away, last week, Irish and Ulster rugby lost one of their best supporters. Her grandson lined out for his country, against France, a few days later and helped them to a 18-11 win.
Bowe says, ‘She passed away at the start of last week. And it was quite special. She was there from my first cap in Ulster. She was still quite well known in Ulster for tuning up with her blankets over her and her hot toddy… people still talk about her.
‘She was a big supporter of me and I think it was nice to get that victory for my family, for my dad. Playing in the Irish jersey is not just about you on the pitch. It’s about the people and that Irish pride… yeah it was a nice one to win.’
Having missed the last two Six Nations with injury, Bowe is delighted to be playing a key role in his side’s task of retaining their championship. Ireland have ground out two wins so far and, new-found perfectionists that we are, there have been grumbles about a lack of tries and, indeed, try-scoring chances.
Bowe says, ‘To be part of a winning team, you’d be happy to do whatever. I got a bit of ball in the autumn and was happy with that. The first two games of this campaign, I suppose, I’ve had to do other areas of the back three job that are very important and certainly areas Joe likes to concentrate a lot on.
‘As a back three players, his wingers have to be able to play 13 and have to be able to play 15, have to be good in the air, good at competing for the ball. Certainly in the last couple of weeks I’ve had to do a lot of that but against a team like the French and the Italians [you have to].
‘They’re big upfront, big strong men so maybe putting the ball behind them and turning them, putting on that pressure and trying to force turnovers is an area I pride myself on so it’s something I can try to use.’
Bowe has praised the positive contributions of Connacht’s Robbie Henshaw and has backed Ulster teammate Jared Payne’s class to shine through at outside centre.
He says, ‘There’s a huge amount more to come from Jared, the more he grows comfortable in that position in Ireland and with Robbie and the No. 13 position as well.
‘He’s just one of these players who seems to have an awful lot of time on the ball as well and the more comfortable he gets, he is certainly good to play outside of at Ulster and puts you in space, has great ideas and he’s going to be a real class act.’
Looking ahead to the visit of England on March 1, the Monaghan man comments, ‘They are a team that pride themselves on their defence, they are going to be a difficult team to break down. If we want to win that match we are probably going to have to take those one or two chances that we get.’
*Bowe was speaking at the announcement of a partnership between Cadbury and the IRFU, and Boost as the official chocolate of the Irish Rugby team. To mark the sponsorship, Cadbury is offering fans a chance to win a pair of tickets to watch Ireland take on England, on March 1. Check out the Cadbury Ireland Facebook page for more.
