James Lowe dreamed of playing for the All Blacks.
Instead, playing for his adopted nation of Ireland, he's beaten them.
Lowe grew up in Nelson and played college rugby alongside Ethan Blackadder and David Havili.
He played for the Māori All Blacks, Tasman and the Chiefs, before trying his luck overseas and earning himself a place in the Irish side.
In his first match against New Zealand, he opened the scoring, holding off Jordie Barrett to touch down in the corner as Ireland earned just their third win over the All Blacks.
He told Channel 4 he was still coming to terms with the 29-20 win in Dublin.
"It's amazing. Never in a million years did I think this day would come. I dreamt of being an All Black as a kid," he said.
"I gave up that dream as I wasn't good enough and to come over here, to hear my native country anthem and stand in front of the haka, it's a childhood dream."
More than scoring, he said it was his work on defence he was particularly proud of.
"You bollixes always talk about my D, so I got up and whacked Rieko (Ioane)," he said.
"We got the turnover from it, I don't care about that first try, I don't care about anything, it was the moment, 70 minutes."
It’s Ireland’s third win over the All Blacks in five years.
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