Leinster Rugby’s two new signings, Scott Fardy and James Lowe, will both be taking part in this weekend’s Super Rugby quarter-finals.
Fardy and the Brumbies have a home quarter-final against the current Super Rugby champions, the Hurricanes, while Lowe and the Chiefs travel to take on the Stormers, the second-ranked South African side.
The Brumbies qualified for the play-offs by topping the Australian Conference with 34 points. However, as the lowest-ranked conference winner they face a tough challenge against the Hurricanes, the second-placed team in the New Zealand conference.
Fardy has started in 14 games for the Brumbies this season, playing 1,110 minutes, and captaining the side on several occasions.
In those 14 games he has carried 63 times for a total of 328 metres. Fardy is also one of the Brumbies’ top tacklers with an 86% success rate and has won six turnovers.
The Brumbies last faced the Hurricanes in week 9 of this year’s Super Rugby season, falling to a 56-21 away from home.
Lowe will travel with the Chiefs to face the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday evening (KO 4pm Ireland/5pm local) knowing that a win will mean they are guaranteed to meet a New Zealand franchise in the final four.
As with Fardy and the Brumbies, Lowe has been almost ever-present with the Chiefs this season, playing 14 out 15 games, and racking up 1,041 minutes on the pitch.
Lowe also faced the British & Irish Lions this summer starting at full-back for the Maori All Blacks in a 32-10 defeat.
Lowe is the joint-third highest try-scorer in Super Rugby this season with 11 (including a hat-trick against the Waratahs which you can see in the video above). Only the Hurricanes’ Vince Aso and Ngani Laumape with 14 tries each have scored more.
No player has made more linebreaks than Lowe in this season’s competition (19) and only Lowe’s teammate Damian McKenzie has carried for more metres this season (1,545 to Lowe’s 1,431).
The Chiefs faced quarter-final opponents the Stormers back in April, falling to a 34-26 defeat away from home, though Lowe did pick up one of his 14 tries.
Coincidentally, in the final round of the regular season, the Chiefs hosted the Brumbies in New Zealand, coming out on top 28-10.
With the way the draw has fallen they could meet again this season in a Super Rugby final, but by no means will getting there be straightforward with two tough challenges ahead this weekend.
Brumbies v Hurricanes (Friday, 21st July, GIO Stadium Canberra, KO 10.35am Ireland/7.35pm local)
Stormer v Chiefs (Saturday, 22nd July, Newlands Stadium, KO 4pm Ireland/5pm local)
See Fardy and Lowe in action for Leinster Rugby next season! Season Tickets are available to purchase from leinsterseasontickets.ie.
