Tommy Bowe tells Johnny Watterson his thoughts on leaving Croke Park
IN THE past Geordan Murphy may have felt Leicester was too distant to have been drawn to the bosom of the Irish rugby team. At London Irish, captain Bob Casey’s game over the last decade might have earned him a closer relationship with the Ireland coaches. The message if you moved from Ireland you were out of the eyeline of the Irish selectors was explicitly understood. Then Tommy Bowe came along, joined Ospreys and the evil spell was broken.
The transformation in Bowe’s game since he left the Ulster set-up and started hanging with Shane Williams, James Hook, Mike Phillips and Lee Byrne has been a lesson in healthy career choice. In a few seasons Bowe has grown to be a senior figure at Liberty Stadium and in the Ireland team. Better armed and now a world-class finisher, the Monaghan winger cuts an off-field figure of being flippant and jokey but now also fearless and able.
The competitive tension within the Ireland squad seems also to be paying dividends. “I don’t know if we’re getting more chances but we’re being a lot more clinical,” he says. “It’s well known that we have a backline of immense talent. We have a centre partnership of worldwide renown. We have two outhalves of top quality vying for the position. And there’s so much competition in the back three.
“Myself and Keith (Earls) were under serious pressure, so we had to perform. We’re both good finishers so we’d like to think if we get a sniff we can finish it off.”
Bowe has had good memories of Croke Park. Before rugby stardom took hold he used to travel to Dublin for big hurling finals and semi-finals.
He has played “maybe 10 or so games” at the stadium and most of those have left kindly thoughts. “On the playing side of things, it’s been very special for me just to have my second shot in the Irish side against Scotland two years ago,” he says. “I have some very fond memories of the last couple of times we’ve been there.
“Who did I lose to? I didn’t play against France . . . just the All Blacks and the draw with Australia. So it’s been good for us. We’ll definitely be sad to see it go and we want to finish with a bang this weekend.
“Whenever we first moved to Croke Park, people probably thought we wouldn’t be able to sell it out as many times as we have. It’s gone in to the households now. People of hurling backgrounds, of GAA backgrounds, all sorts – everybody’s really taken it on board and are really enjoying it. We’ve been able to deliver which has been special for us too.”
Scotland will present a number of problems on Saturday, not least of all the belief they have been desperately unlucky. There is also the notion of pride. Alastair Kellock, the Glasgow Warriors secondrow, is keen to rain on Ireland’s farewell party. “We’re not going over there to take part in any ceremonies, whether it’s the Triple Crown or whether it’s the last game at Croke Park,” he said yesterday.
Losing three matches and drawing one so far has given the Scots, not so much a sense of hunger as desperation. Bowe senses it.
“They have a very strong backrow and their back three . . . their wingers, obviously Tom Evans is out but my Ospreys team-mate Nicky Walker can’t even get into the squad over there,” he says. “And I’d rate him as a top-quality winger so it just shows the strength they have in the back three. Scotland is going to be very difficult – they’ll definitely want to try and finish on a high.”
Bowe has 13 tries from 29 caps, lagging slightly behind Keith Earls’ strike rate of six tries from nine outings. With Scotland, a summer tour and the autumn Test next November that will surely improve further for the Osprey who has found his wings.
