James Lowe: Stade Toulousain semi as big as it gets
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Leinster Rugby wing James Lowe has described Saturday’s Heineken Champions Cup semi-final against Stade Toulousain “as big as it gets”, with the combined nine-time winners of the competition set to do battle at the Aviva Stadium.
Four-time champions Leinster reached the semi-final four with a 23-14 victory at Leicester Tigers, while five-time winners Toulouse scraped past Munster Rugby 4-2 on place kicks following a 24-24 draw.
“In any sort of club rugby, I think this is as big as it gets,” he commented. “They’ve got five stars on the chest, something we have been striving for the last few years. They are the current holders and the current TOP 14 champions. To win this title you have got to beat the best.”
Yet another try for @joshvdf as @leinsterrugby make the semis 🔥
— Heineken Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) May 7, 2022
One of their players of the season?
Extended #HeinekenChampionsCup highlights ➡️ https://t.co/7G9Pl3QYJk pic.twitter.com/sG15DpoTRg
Lowe – the leading try-scorer in this season’s Heineken Champions Cup with eight – was keen to emphasise that improvements must be made from Leinster’s quarter-final win to stand a chance against the defending champions.
“That first half we played particularly well and built a decent lead through playing good clinical rugby, but I think in the second half we probably let ourselves down – we didn’t execute well enough,” the Irish international explained.
“We gave them life, gave the crowd life, and we made it hard for ourselves, but we showed resolve – in the defensive effort that we put in – and James Ryan had a few massive key steals.
“The scrum was going a bit topsy turvy, but we managed to come out on top late on in the game and we closed out a very, very tough game in very tough conditions.”
The Irish province now have home advantage in the semi-final in Dublin and Lowe believes that can have a huge say in the outcome.
“Fortunately, we are playing the best at home this weekend,” he said. “The ball is in our court, our home fans will turn up in droves and I’m sure Dublin will turn it on.
“Managing to get a home semi-final and be able to repay the fans – hopefully we get a sell-out crowd – it’s amazing to have that support. We are going to need them for the full 80 minutes this weekend.
“But we know if we can put in a performance, a clinical performance, we can put our best foot forward on Saturday, and that’s what we are planning to do.”
