Alan Quinlan may have jumped the gun on James Lowe, but he was proved right
Lowe ended up with a try - his 13th for Ireland - and made 116 metres off 13 carries, which included four clean breaks. His missile of a left boot was key, again, in the kicking game and his defence was strong on a day Italy were kept to '0' on the scoreboard.The 31-year-old only played twice for Leinster after the World Cup but logged in with two 80-minute outings in the Champions Cup and looks sharp in this Six Nations.
The host broadcaster usually gets the honour of deciding man of the match and Quinlan dropped off the live coverage, provided by Virgin Media Sport, for a while. TV viewers then picked him up talking to either a producer, co-commentator Andrew Trimble, or both, about that end-of-game decision. Quinlan was overheard saying:This was around the hour mark in the game, when Dan Sheehan, James Ryan and Hugo Keenan had all been replaced. Viewers suspected the chat was about who would get the best player accolade:
Sure enough - cemented by that 62nd minute try and another nice line break - James Lowe was named Man of the Match, much to the delight of the home fans, when it was announced."I think everyone at home could hear us talking and debating it, Andrew. You hiding away here! James has been superb, the whole game."As for James Lowe himself, he credited his teammates for putting it up to Italy and joked about helping out in the rolling mauls to help Dan Sheehan get his tries.