JAMES LOWE recalls a time when playing with a smile on his face made him a target for slagging. But the troughs in a career, coupled with now having two kids to take care of, mean that he is determined to enjoy himself. Lowe made a timely return to action for Leinster a week before the start of the Six Nations which ensured he got the nod to start against England. Although he did not get on the scoresheet himself, he played a key role in Jamison Gibson-Park and Tadhg Beirne’s tries in the bonus-point win. His performance was enough to ensure he keeps his place for this afternoon’s game against Scotland. Murrayfield may have been a happy hunting ground for Ireland of late but Lowe did not need reminding that it has not always gone to plan for him as an individual, with the 2021 game springing to mind. He said: "Oh yeah, I wasn't that flash in that game, yeah. Thanks, and then I got dropped for the first time after that. "I think we've come a long way since then but look, we've had great memories at Murrayfield, we still managed to win that game, we won ugly. "Then two years ago, in '23, it felt like the wheels were coming off in terms of all of our players going down and obviously Garry Ringrose got knocked out, which was a horrific one. "And I think Cian Healy was playing hooker, Josh van der Flier was throwing the ball in, a lot of things went wrong. “But we were still able to come out on the right side of the scoreboard. So it says a lot about us as a team and the characters we have, being able to step up.” Character is something that Lowe has learned to develop having been given a swift introduction to the realities of professional sport by former Connacht coach Kieran Keane in the winger’s formative days with Tasman. He recalled: “I wasn't taken off but I was sprayed at half-time by KK, who I learned so much from and was an amazing coach of mine. "It was my second ever professional game, I think I was 19 at the time and I just went completely into my shell. "But I was fortunate enough to have some pretty smart campaigners around me, and two people who I remember, Campbell Johnstone, who was an All Black who came back to play for Tasman, and Joe Wheeler. "They kind of took me under their wing and told me, 'it's water off a duck's back, don't worry about it, everyone in the dressing-room backs your ability'. "That there was awesome and it helped me I guess being able to get on with it, being able to back myself and trust everything that I'd done. "I's a story I tell every now and then because I did learn a lot from KK as a coach. "I was very, very fortunate to have had him early on because he was staunch, it's probably exactly what I needed because I was pretty raw. "I'm pretty raw still, yeah! But he put some parameters around it which was really, really good. “He was someone who sticks out in my mind who probably narrowed my focus a lot in terms of the game of rugby, not trying to do stupid things all the time and hope that they come off. "'If you cross the t's and dot the i's', is something that he always said, 'then come Saturday what will happen will happen because you've done all the preparation'.” He did not have the chance to immediately show what he had learned. He explained: “I actually got knocked out in the next game so I was out for eight weeks, so I had a bit of time to mull it all over. "It was my one and only head knock that I've ever had, touch wood there's no more of them, but you've got to learn hard and fast, it's sink or swim, especially in professional rugby. "Hopefully I can put my arm around some younger fellas if it happens to them now, not mould them but help them through all the things that they're going through. “I think you've got to be careful in the changing room. Some people need cuddling, some need to be told straight up and down what the craic is. "It's person to person and you've got to be able to connect with them emotionally to try to help them through the things that they are going through because there's a lot of external things that can shake people off. "It's not just in rugby, I think everyone can probably think of something that has thrown them off in the workplace and that's affected everything that has gone on in their lives. "I'm not trying to be philosophical or tell you what's up at the moment but it happens in all walks of life.” And, for Lowe, he reckons he has figured how to get the best out of himself. He said: “I think there’s enough pressure going around without having to put more on myself. My wife gave birth a couple of weeks ago, that's more pressure. I just run around, you know? "What I do, I've been doing it for years. "It's very instinctive and I think that's how I play as well. Rugby is what I do and it's what I feel I'm good at, I don't need to put any more pressure on myself that's already put on. "I just need to make sure I'm fit and healthy and I think the performances will be off the back of that. “I just have a smile most of the time. I used to get bullied for running around with my tongue out as a kid. Like, that’s not something I’m trying to do on purpose! “I’m just happy to be fit and healthy again. Being able to play rugby for Ireland is something I’ll always cherish and be happy about.” It is a lot more enjoyable when Ireland are winning, something they have done 10 times in a row against Scotland but Gregor Townsend’s side have pushed them. TARTAN TEST Lowe acknowledged: “They're a good side, man, bar that we can say we've won the last 10, we probably came out on the right side fortunately in a couple of those. "They're an exciting team and we need to make sure that we're across absolutely everything because they've got a 10 in Finn Russell who is given an absolute licence to play what's in front of him. “And they've got a back three who would match any back three around the world. "Blair Kinghorn, since he's been at Toulouse, has grown arms and legs and obviously you've got Duhan van der Merwe who is an exceptional ball carrier and is very abrasive and physical and if we don't match him there then he can be a handful for any team. "Darcy Graham's feet speak for themselves and what he did on the weekend, he can easily do against most teams. "So we need to really be on it, yeah.”