HIS GAELIC FOOTBALL background is well documented but when Tommy Bowe takes the field in Melbourne on Saturday, the Ulster man will bring a little bit of hurling with him.
The Ireland wing was named in the XV to face the Wallabies at the Etihad Stadium today after a near-miraculous comeback from a broken bone in his hand three weeks ago.
Bowe initially thought it was ‘game over’ but one surgeon insisted he’d seen rugby league players make a recovery within a fortnight or so. The Monaghan man has now indeed made the turnaround for the crunch second Test and will trot out wearing a hurling glove shipped in from Ireland.
“I’ve never worn one before but it feels good,” Bowe said today. “I didn’t restrict it at all, it’s just a bit of padding. It’s not going to do anything for me really but if I was to get a snap directly on it it’s just adding a bit of protection. It’s more just a bit of padding but there’s nothing on the inside so there’s nothing to affect my catching and passing.”
The Lions Twitter account tweeted its thanks to Galway legend Joe Rabbitte for the piece of gear this week.
“Andrew Trimble I know had fractured a bone in his hand a couple of years ago and used a hurling glove,” said Bowe, ” he played a couple of games for Ireland so we got in contact with the same guys and they shipped it straight out to us.”
What a very normal guy he is….always true to his principles…but fair and honest
Best of luck, Derry. As a Waterfordian, I’ve always had an affinity for the city of Derry – another abandoned port city, that lost its major employment(Derry: textiles, Waterford: glassmaking), that central government wouldn’t allow a university. That attitude of “f**k the rest of them, we’ll carry on regardless” that McCann talks about, is felt on Suirside as much as Foyleside.
Really enjoyed that article. And very well written. Best of luck to both teams today
Eamonn McCann, a living legend.
Really great article – EMc is _still_ a class act after all the years