THE SCORE THAT settled Ulster’s 29 – 9 win over Glasgow Warriors was an overdue one in the eyes of Tommy Bowe.
The winger has cut a frustrated figure in the early stages of this season as he struggled for form and tries. Thankfully, his razor sharp reactions helped him to end the relative mini drought going back six games (and months) to the April rout of Connacht.
The two-time Lion pounced on a loose pop pass from his fellow tourist Euan Murray in midfield and barely broke stride as he powered past the prop and towards the try-line.
Jokingly asked if he had been feeling left out after listening to Craig Gilroy describe the first try of the game, Bowe replied with a smile, but a serious smile.
“I’ve been feeling like that for a few weeks. I was delighted to just get on the scoreboard again.”
Bowe’s delight turned to open frustration when asked to look back on two more chances that came his way, both cross-field kicks from Ian Humphreys that he ended up knocking on.
“I think it hit a pothole or something,” he said to set the room laughing, but Bowe’s head was shaking as he went through the exasperation again.
“It bounced backwards on me. I thought I was walking it in. The other one then, I dropped.
“As a team we’re getting into situations where we can be dangerous. Obviously there was another one with me where there was a big gap and we didn’t take it. But we want to stretch teams, we want to find spaces and it’s great to have the likes of Hump who can spot a gap, spot when people are down and be able to put the ball over there – that’s what I want.
“I’m disappointed I didn’t get to pick it up and go over, but it’s nice to be in the positions where you can be scoring tries.”
Although each member of the backline were at one point involved in one of the exciting counter-attacks against Glasgow, Neil Doak will be hoping that the return of Paddy Jackson can help guide the team to more profitable attacks from within the opposition third of the field.
Not that Jackson will be shy in offering up cross-field kicks to Bowe either. Even after the two dropped balls, the duo will surely look back to the success of the tactic when Bowe leapt above Niall Morris to score in the European victory over Leicester this time last year.
This time around, the tables have turned. The Tigers have home advantage in round one of the Champions Cup and despite Ulster winning two out of two last season, Bowe says the squad is fully expecting the Premiership side to be intent on retribution.
“We’ve been to Welford Road lots of times over the last couple of years. It’s one of the most intimidating, toughest places to go and play.
“We’re under no illusions what a difficult match it’s going to be. But we played out of our skin this week, very well last week and I think we’re on a great roll. Hopefully we can keep it going over the next couple of weeks.”
