ULSTER AND Ireland fullback Michael Lowry believes his battle for a Six Nations jersey with Leinster's Hugo Keenan has made him better as a player and that Keenan hopefully feels the same.
Keenan was the standout player for Ireland at 15 and got into the Six Nations Championship of the season this.
Lowry made his debut against Italy and scored two tries on the day in his only start.
The 23-year-old Lowry speaking ahead of Ulster's URC clash with the stormers and told RTE
"It was definitely the best experience I've ever had,"
"The whole hype of the build up into the game was the best I've ever experienced, and really emotional, but I sort of tried to hold back the emotion and just try to take it all in.
"It was probably the best day of my life, really."
Michael Lowry is living his childhood dream after his two tries helped Ireland to a convincing Guinness Six Nations victory against Italy! ☘️ #GuinnessSixNations — Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 27, 2022
While Lowry believes that he has improved he also knows that Keenan has the jersey to lose under Andy Farrell
"I think we both take aspects of each other's game. We helped each other right through the campaign.
"That's why Hugo played so well, it's that we were both being really competitive throughout the campaign, and helping each other.
"Even when Hugo knew he wasn't playing the Italy game, he would have helped me out a lot, it was my first game and making sure I was nice and calm, and it really helped me understand what the Irish coaches want from full-back.
"Hugo's been playing brilliantly, I can't fault him at all. We take from each other's game, because if you start looking too much at other players' games it takes away from your own.
"He's so calm, he works really, really hard and you can see it out on the pitch," he added.
