{"id":619119,"date":"2026-06-03T15:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T15:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/619119\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T15:44:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T15:44:13","slug":"luke-fitzgerald-hits-out-at-short-sighted-irfu-over-james-lowe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/619119\/","title":{"rendered":"Luke Fitzgerald hits out at ‘short-sighted’ IRFU over James Lowe"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Former Ireland wing Luke Fitzgerald has urged the IRFU to do everything in their power to re-sign James Lowe amid concerns that he is set to go overseas.<\/p>\n

The British and Irish Lion is out of contract at the end of the season but has yet to sign a new deal with the province.<\/p>\n

Lowe<\/a> is not on a central contract with the governing body, which means that Leinster<\/a> have to cover the cost of his deal.<\/p>\n

IRFU\u2019s change to central contracts<\/p>\n

The Dublin-based outfit also have to think about the financial burden of paying an extra 10 per cent for their centrally contracted individuals, with the IRFU upping it from 30 to 40.<\/p>\n

Leinster are therefore understandably reluctant to offer terms for someone who could play more times for Ireland than does for the province.<\/p>\n

The wing, who will be 34 in July, has also had his injury issues over recent years and has missed plenty of important Investec Champions Cup encounters.<\/p>\n

Fitzgerald duly accepts Leinster\u2019s stance and insists the onus is on the IRFU<\/a> to step in and keep one of their prized assets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he\u2019s coming up against a rapid winger, maybe his top-end pace and his injury profile, if you combine those two things [it\u2019s an issue]. He\u2019s a heavier guy; it\u2019s one of his best things, which is that ability to break a tackle, but maybe towards the end of your career, a guy playing such a power position it does weigh on you a little bit,\u201d he said on The Left Wing podcast.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can see a version of why this isn\u2019t the worst decision from their perspective; I feel from Ireland\u2019s perspective, it\u2019s very unusual that they\u2019re not pushing to say, \u2018Listen, let\u2019s make an extra 100, 200k available for this guy \u2013 he\u2019s a big player for us\u2019.<\/p>\n

Fitzgerald was joined on the show by journalist Jonathan Bradley, who stated that the IRFU should be listening to the national team head coach Andy Farrell.<\/p>\n

\u201cI completely understand why Leinster don\u2019t want to pay the money, but I can\u2019t understand why someone at the IRFU isn\u2019t saying: \u2018Our national head coach, who in terms of reputation remains the most important person in Irish rugby, [wants him to stay]\u2019,\u201d Bradley said.<\/p>\n

James Lowe future uncertain as Leinster boss responds to exit speculation<\/a><\/p>\n

Lowe\u2019s value to Ireland<\/p>\n

There are signs that Lowe might be on the wane, which is perhaps causing the governing body\u2019s hesitancy; Fitzgerald still believes that he possesses immense value to Leinster and Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust make an executive decision and go, \u2018guys, find an extra 100k a year, get this guy to stay\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very short-sighted to not be managing the relationship. You can disagree over money, that\u2019s all well and good, but he\u2019s been a brilliant player for Leinster and Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s something different that we don\u2019t normally see in the game here, and then his skill set as well \u2013 his kicking has become absolutely vital. That cannon of a left boot is really valuable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really taken pressure off whoever we\u2019ve had at 10. I\u2019m not sure he\u2019s a straight starter but I like what he gives you going forward, even if he doesn\u2019t maybe have that yard of pace [anymore].<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat he does give you is something different and an option, and even if he\u2019s not starting, he would be a great bench option. In my mind he can kind of cover 15.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: \u2018P***ed off\u2019 Ireland legend accuses Leinster of Tadhg Furlong \u2018disrespect\u2019 and claims assistant \u2018must go into work with a balaclava on because he is robbing them\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Ireland wing Luke Fitzgerald has urged the IRFU to do everything in their power to re-sign James…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":619120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[348,2274,123063,65320,50,5903,101,56,54,16296,55],"class_list":["post-619119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-home-page","tag-ireland","tag-james-lowe","tag-leinster","tag-news","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-rugby-championship","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}