Player In The Pod - George Lowe

We were at London Beach Rugby 2016 in Finsbury Square this weekend, where we were lucky enough to bump into George Lowe of Harlequins. Currently injured for the start of the season, George was more than happy to share an insight into his life as a professional rugby player at Quins!

George, you’re here at the Beach Rugby in your commemorative Harlequins gear today, you must be spreading the word?

Yes, exactly. It’s Harlequins 150th Anniversary this year, so we’re looking to do the landmark justice and we’re out and about promoting it as much as possible. We’ve got a huge game against the Maori All Blacks which I can’t wait for. We also have a player golf day and dinner coming up which should be good fun, and of course, our game against Gloucester at Twickenham over Christmas will be a big day too for all involved with the club.’

You’re fortunate to play in the shadow of Twickenham, but what are your favourite Rugby Stadiums?

‘The Stoop obviously! It’s a great day out with the family and you can’t really get a much better atmosphere! Also I would say that in Bath, on a really nice sunny day, playing at the Rec – it’s actually lovely down there. Other away grounds; Thomand Park is pretty good – we played Munster there in the Amlin Cup Semi-Final and beat them - that was an amazing atmosphere there with some pretty crazy fans, so that was good!’

In terms of opposition, who is the best player you’ve ever come up against and why?

‘I would probably go with someone like Manu (Tuilagi), he’s pretty tough to play against because physically he’s pretty gifted, and then he’s actually a very good rugby player as well which helps! He’s the toughest opposite man I’ve played against, though unfortunately he’s been injured and so have I, so we haven’t played against each other much recently. I think he’s the key to England’s attacking game in the future so it will be good to see him back and hit some form.’

On that note - do you think Eddie Jones will stick with the Ford/Farrell combo when Manu is back?

‘I think Eddie isn’t scared to do what he wants and he picks players on form, so when Manu is back and he’s playing well enough I’m sure he’ll get his chance again. But with George Ford and Owen playing so well, they always look like a good shout (at 10 & 12) - especially Owen who was in really good form last year.’

I know you play centre currently alongside Jamie Roberts, but prior to his arrival you played a lot with Jordan Turner-Hall until unfortunately he prematurely had to retire due to injury – what was it like for you when he retired and the centre partnership came to an end?

‘It was sad, it was really sad. His hip just gave up on him in the end and he had to retire. We played a lot of rugby together and we sort of grew up together. We were both quite young (when we first played together) and we tested each-other and knew each-others game inside out so we knew how to play off each-other and although there were probably things we couldn’t do as a partnership, we managed to be quite effective.’

You were quite severely injured in 2013, and injury in the modern game is very common with rugby being so physical - but what was it like being out for so long?

‘Yeah it was tough, very tough. Injury is the worst part of the game - everyone says it and it’s true. I was out of the game for 13 months, 3 months in a neck brace day and night. You do get used to it and I always say you’ve just got to get on with it really. You do learn to adapt and cope with it, and if you try to keep yourself busy outside of rugby so when you get injured it’s good to have something to fall back on. There are guys who can’t switch off from rugby and they probably struggle more than those who can, but everyone is different. You get some players who approach their rehab at 100% and are very intense about it and cope with it, but I need to switch off from it really.’

After you’ve played 80 minutes with a rival team, you’ve just lost by a point; do you go for a beer with the other team?

‘The truth is that there are occasions such as after finals or after the bigger games you tend to do that. After the smaller games you tend to have your recovery, eat this eat that etc., so we tend to eat separately now, but it is nice when you do get to have a bit of food or a beer with the other team!’

Obviously you’ve been coached for the last six years by Connor O’Shea and he led you to the 2012 Premiership Title - have you got a little bit to say about what he’s leaving behind and how you’ll miss him at the club as a coach?

‘Yeah, I personally obviously got on well with him, and as a club he gave us a very clear identity of how we’re going to play rugby and how we’re going to go forward as well. He definitely gave us a very clear understanding of what he wanted and that was to play exciting attacking rugby. I don’t think this group of players will ever go away from that too much’.

‘Mark Mapletoft moves up to head coach, John Kingston Director of Rugby and then Graham Rowntree comes in as forward coach. What do you think those guys will bring in for the team?’

‘Obviously I know Tofty and John Kingston well – Tofty brings a lot of energy and has a lot of ideas, he’s quite creative so maybe he’ll have things that he’s always wanted to do (with the club) so perhaps he’ll have a lot more influence on that. John might take a step back from the day to day rugby, but he’s very intelligent and has a lot of experience in rugby so he really thinks about the game, so I think he will be good at giving us a way to go forward.’

It wasn’t the best season with Harlequins just gone, but you’ve got a lot of quality in your side – do you think you will be up there next season?

‘Yeah last season we actually started well - beating Sarries at home - but during the Six Nations we struggled, and the year before in the Six Nations we struggled as well. It probably shows a lack of depth - especially with a few injuries and the Six Nations going on our performances just dropped off and we never really regained momentum. I think that’s been identified and we haven’t made many high profile signings this year but we’ve got a lot of good quality, experienced players in the squad now so hopefully when we do get injuries or international call ups we should still be able to do a job.’

‘With the 6 Nations and club rugby running simultaneously, what affect does it have on the club when it’s missing some big players but still have to play their league games?’

‘Yeah it is hard – players are getting called up for International sides because they’re playing well so they’re generally your better players and your leaders so when they go you need to have another group of leaders who are going to step up. Last year for example it’s tough when the likes of James Horwill and Nick Evans had to play games back to back for weeks on end during the Six Nations as perhaps we didn’t have the depth to cover it.’

Let’s talk about Nick Easter, who was going to be doing a player coach role, but has just announced his retirement from rugby. Playing with him for many years what’s it going to be like not having him at the back of the scrum?

‘Yeah it’s going to be strange – all my senior rugby I’ve pretty much played with him and he’s a great player. The best thing about Minty is that he’s so consistent – he’s never injured and he never has a bad game so it will be strange! We’ve got a good back row though and Jack Clifford perhaps will be someone identified to jump into his shoes but we’ve got a lot of good back rowers in the squad.’

Now, I’ve got an idea who this could be – but who is the funniest bloke in the Harlequins squad – I’m going to guess Joe Marler!

‘Yeah! I’ve grown up with Joe so I know him well. A lot of people don’t get him and he likes to make things awkward! I do find him very funny as do a lot of the squad, he probably is the funniest. Danny (Care) is very witty – very quick. Rugby is a strange one; Joe Gray is someone who gets a lot of banter thrown at him so he provides a lot of laughs without really meaning to!’

Do you have any best mates from other teams?

‘Well I’ve always been at Quins, but I’ve got mates who have left so when you go to Worcester there’s Sam Smith there, Chris York as well who’s at Ealing at the moment so I don’t bump into him as much but I did when he was at Newcastle. I went to school with Yorky and I lived with him for three years so it is nice when you do get to see people - like at Danny’s (Care) wedding - there’s a lot of connections all round basically.’

Have you got any funny stories that you could share with us?

‘The funniest story is when George Robson fell over in the tunnel! We were playing Toulon away in the quarter of the Amlin Cup and it was his first time being captain so he was pumped for the game. He’d given the team talk and when the captain turns around there’s a camera in his face, and I’m on the bench so I was clapping him through getting everyone pumped up and then George Robson just slips over right in front of the camera! Everyone was just wetting themselves for about 5 minutes. He didn’t laugh - he got up and carried on!’

If you’re not going to do a Nick Easter and play until you’re 36 - where would you like to be in 10 years after rugby?

‘I’ve set up a small property development company at the moment and I’ve started doing that. After my neck injury in 2013 I thought about retirement – which I didn’t’ want to do – but they said that was a possibility so I started doing that and if that does well I’d like to do that. My dream is to maybe go abroad and do it there as well.’

Finally George, if you had to go for a beer with one of your team-mates, who would it be?

‘I’ll say Mark Lambert as he’ll be upset if I don’t say him!’

Interview with Ollie Shires for www.TheRugbyPod.com

Harlequins 2016/17 Season Launch