James Lowe, along with Rónan Kelleher and Liam Turner, have extended their careers at Leinster by signing new contracts with the province.
While Lowe’s status as a provincially contracted player rather than being offered a central IRFU contract might surprise some, it is largely in keeping with the metrics used by the union.
The New Zealand-born winger has scored 50 tries in 71 appearances for Leinster and having made his Test debut against Wales in the Autumn Nations Cup in November 2020, has scored nine tries in 20 Tests.
The union take into account a player’s injury and age profile, and Lowe, who will be 31 in July, is probably not seen as an investment for the next four-year World Cup cycle up to 2027.
That Leinster have six other players on central contracts may also be a factor, now that the 50-times capped World Player of the Year Josh van der Flier (who turns 30 later this month) has finally been upgraded. Johnny Sexton is centrally contracted up until the World Cup, by which stage Van der Flier will have joined Andrew Porter, Tadhg Furlong, James Ryan, Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose on central contracts.
