A visibly emotional James Lowe confessed that the manner in which his Leinster career drew to a close was 'sad', following his final appearance for the province on Friday night.
Leinster swept aside the Bulls 36-7 to successfully defend their United Rugby Championship crown, with the rematch of the 2025 final delivering an even more emphatic outcome, as the Springbok-laden Bulls were taken apart at Croke Park.
Tommy O'Brien, Rieko Ioane, Jack Conan, Sam Prendergast and Harry Byrne all touched down as Leinster claimed the championship for the 10th time, offering some consolation for the heavy Champions Cup final defeat to Bordeaux the previous month.
The occasion served as a fitting farewell for wing Lowe, who brought the curtain down on nine years of distinguished service to the province.
He admitted it was 'not the fairytale ending' he wanted, having hoped to continue playing for Ireland until after next year's World Cup. A decision by Irish rugby bosses to only offer him a greatly reduced contract led to him departing for Japan and therefore becoming ineligible for the national team.
Speaking after the final whistle, he said: 'It's been awesome. Probably today was the most emotional I've been. Look, it's been the world and more.'
'Ten years of my life have been spent here, growing a family, hopefully got better as a rugby player, won a few trophies along the way. It's been amazing.'
He continued: 'It's sad it ended the way it did, but sure look, the cat always lands on his feet and we're off to Japan for a couple of years. I'm really, really excited, I'm not going to lie.'
'But this club and country... I wanted my fairytale to end here but it doesn't always happen, does it?'
