Lowe on that stop-go try [Nelson Mail]
James Lowe swears he wasn't taking the piss.
With roughly four minutes left on the clock, the Tasman Makos are well in control at 31-10 and Canterbury are pressing desperately inside Tasman's quarter. Suddenly Lowe spies a chance, intercepts a Canterbury pass and takes off downfield.
Then inexplicably he slows, looks back and sees both referee Garratt Williamson and Canterbury's defence still in pursuit. So Tasman's left winger kicks back into gear and outsprints Canterbury's flagging cover to score Tasman's fifth and final try and complete a remarkable 38-10 ITM Cup rugby win.
It brought Saturday's epic Tasman performance to a dramatic conclusion, though according to the man himself, there was no intention to disrespect the opposition.
"I thought I heard a whistle and I was kind of lucky I didn't throw the ball away or kick the ball into the crowd actually," Lowe said.
"I sort of looked back at the ref and the ref was looking at me as if [to say] ‘what are you up to'. But yeah, I had a wee chuckle with him after it.
"He said, ‘that could have been very embarrassing if you'd slowed up completely', so lucky I didn't."
It was a staggering result - particularly Tasman's unprecedented 28-point winning margin.
"No, I don't think many people picked that, especially the media. Reading all the reports beforehand, they were still picking Canterbury over us. But it's always a big occasion against Canterbury and we had a lot to fight for - a [home] semifinal and Shane's [captain Shane Christie] 50th, so there was a lot at stake for us and we knew we needed to perform."
Besides Tasman securing their first ever win over Canterbury in Christchurch, Lowe's two tries also saw him equal the Makos' individual season try-scoring record of seven set last year by No 8 Liam Squire. After scoring just one try in his first five games this season, Lowe has scored six in his past four as the strapping 22-year-old, 105kg winger has brought all of his enviable power and pace to bear. And that's despite managing a groin niggle all season.
However, he's quick to downplay his achievement.
"Really, if you look at all the tries, I'm just on the end of the chain more than anything. There's nothing really that spectacular about them. I'm just in the right place at the right time.
"I joke with [fellow winger] Bryce Heem quite a bit because he actually gets a lot of assists and not many tries - so I'm sort of the opposite.
Lowe admits that Tasman are playing with justifiable confidence in only their first season as a premiership team. Last year's championship-winning experience has paid some obvious dividends."He's playing awesome. He's a big human and he's pretty hard to stop when he's at full pace and it's just a matter of time before Super Rugby gives him something."
"I think we learned a lot from last year and I guess experience plays quite a big part in it now. The players have gone away to their Super Rugby franchises and come back and they've applied a lot of what they've learned to the Tassie framework.
"It's all good. The feeling inside the camp's awesome, so I can't complain."
Counties-Manukau in Blenheim on Sunday are Tasman's final hurdle ahead of the following weekend's home semifinal at Trafalgar Park. Taranaki are the other team already guaranteed a home semifinal, with Canterbury, Auckland and Counties also still in playoff mix.
The likely appearance of Counties' code-hopping All Blacks midfielder Sonny Bill Williams in Blenheim adds to Sunday's intrigue.
"It's going to be exciting. They've got Sonny back and who knows what's going to happen. We should front a pretty decent side as well and we're back at home, so hopefully we can do the job.
"With finals footy under the belt, it's good to have that experience. But it's just one game at a time, we're not quite there yet. Hopefully we do enough homework and can be clinical and get through that next step.
"Hopefully we get a good crowd in Blenheim and then we can kick on."
- The Nelson Mail
