James Lowe finding form after frustrating spell on sidelines

James Lowe freely admits he is not a good spectator, even if it was something he had to get used to during the opening months of the season.

Sidelined with a torn calf suffered on his first day back training, Lowe could only watch on as Leinster and then Ireland thrived in his absence.

"I’d obviously been on the sidelines for a bit, but especially when those internationals came about, it was very frustrating," he said.

"I went and watched the first Test [against South Africa] at Robbie Henshaw’s house [for] a bit of perspective because he was training all week and then pulled out just before it.

"His missus said thanks for coming over because she was walking on eggshells around him for the last few days."

While Henshaw remains on the treatment table, Lowe is fit and firing and has hit the ground running since returning to action.

The 30-year-old scored a try in his first appearance of the season against Ulster and again impressed in Leinster's Heineken Champions Cup thumping of Racing 92, which included a lovely line break and basketball-style offload to put Garry Ringrose over.

"It’s been good. The boys have performed as well, which has made my job a bit easier," said Lowe.

"I was a bag of bones this time last week, this week I was a little bit better. Hopefully if I keep getting to play, the body will get a bit better."

Having come off the wing looking for work against Racing, Lowe expects to be tested in the air on Friday when Leinster face Gloucester at the RDS, live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.

The Cherry and Whites also claimed an impressive win in round one, scoring three unanswered tries in the final 18 minutes against Bordeaux-Bègles to claim a 22-17 success at Kingsholm, and pose a much different challenge to what Leinster