Andy Dunne has hailed Jame Lowe's influence on Leinster as the winger played a starring role in their 30-12 defeat of Toulouse at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday.
Lowe scored his side's first try of the match and had another disallowed later on and Dunne was quick to praise the New Zealander's style and how he triggers something special in Leo Cullen's side: "He's a joy to watch. And, it's very rarely a left-winger can influence how the rest of his team plays - it's usually going the other direction.
"The interior part of a team influences how a winger plays but in the case of James Lowe, he seems to have a free pass from the management to do whatever he wants.
"I think the management needs to be applauded for that. I think James Lowe also needs to be applauded but there was a concern on my mind going into this game. We probably knew Leinster needed to be tight in order to beat Toulouse. If the game became very dynamic and broken up - it would have favoured Toulouse.
"So picking James Lowe as a wing was a risk because he only plays that way. But, I think they were prepared to take that risk because the benefits out way those negatives.
"He took a quick 22 to himself six/seven minutes into the game - probably when no one else would ever have done it - and in turn, it led to the Leinster block down, Henshaw's block down of Thomas Ramos.
"So you can be very negative or very restrictive on players at times to your own detriment and I think Leinster's coaching team need to be applauded for going with a guy who embraces risks to that degree in a semi-final where Leinster needed to avoid risks. They took their own risks in selection but it worked out," he added.
Leinster will play Saracens in the final after they overcame Munster on Saturday.
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