Bowe: Six Nations Is All About Building Momentum

Tommy Bowe took on the role of supporter last year as the injured Monaghan man missed his second consecutive Six Nations tournament.

Now back to full fitness and brimming with confidence after scoring against both South Africa and Australia in November, he feels there is no need for a change in Ireland’s style of play as they head to Rome for their round 1 clash with Italy.

Asked about Ireland’s approach to the Six Nations opener and their style of play, Bowe said: “I don’t think we’ll be going out there with much caution, we’ll be going out there to win. But any away match, we’ll have plays and ideas of how we want to attack when we get into the opposition half.

“There will certainly be nothing negative about how we’re going to play, but at the same time, away from home we’ll want to try and put the pressure on them and get the crowd on their backs.

“I can’t see it being too much different to be honest. We’ve been very successful in what we’ve done over the last year or so and I can’t see there being huge changes. Small changes for different teams might be made during the campaign but certainly at the minute it’s very much similar to what was back in November.”

Bowe’s last Six Nations campaign, back in 2012, saw him pick up five tries against Wales, Italy (2) and France (2), and he hopes to get off to a good start against a side that Ireland have had plenty of close games with down through the years.

The current players will need no reminding that Italy beat them 22-15 in Rome in the final round of the 2013 Six Nations, with injuries and yellow cards – three in all – playing their part.

Bowe, who turns 31 later this month, admitted: “We obviously want to silence the crowd to not let the Italians get their tails up, but also we want a good start to the Six Nations. It’s all about building momentum in this competition.

“So, if we can get off to a good start, not let Italy into the game, then hopefully play our type of rugby and if we can come away with a win then it will be a perfect start to defending the Six Nations.

“We know we’ve struggled against them the last few times we’ve played against them over in Italy. We know exactly what type of match it’s going to be, but we’ll go out there focused.

“First game, they always come out of the blocks hard as well. So we’re going to be prepared for that and hopefully a good week’s training will get us sorted.”

Fergus McFadden spoke last week of how Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt keeps the players guessing in terms of team selection. Similarly, Bowe is adamant that it is a fruitless task trying to predict what the line-up might be, stating that the players know if they perform they can nail down a starting position.

He believes the New Zealander’s mindset in terms of selection sees no player certain of a starting spot, adding: “It’s very much a case of going out there, you have a couple of days’ training before the team is announced and you just do what you can to try and impress.

“Do what you can, do your job and if you can get that extra bit of an opportunity to stick your hand up and that makes the difference, then great. But there’s nobody going out there sure of their place.”