PHIL LOWE (January 19, 1950 – March 20, 2024)
PHIL LOWE was a local hero who made his mark with both his beloved Hull KR and on the other side of the globe – and helped Great Britain win the World Cup.
That was in France in the autumn of 1972, when the star second-rower, who has died aged 74, started all four matches for Jim Challinor’s Lions, who were triumphant because of their better group-stage record after the final against the holders and favourites Australia in Lyon finished 10-10 after extra time.
Lowe had earlier scored a try in the 27-21 win over the Aussies in Perpignan, and two as the host nation were seen off 13-4 in Grenoble. Great Britain also beat New Zealand 53-19 in Pau.
In all he played twelve Tests for the Lions, scoring eight tries, and five for England, with two tries.
Lowe, who later coached York, was Great Britain team manager and both a director and chairman of Hull KR. He also represented Yorkshire four times (two tries) and made 418 appearances (179 tries) over two lengthy spells at the Craven Park club.
They came either side of a three-season stint at Manly-Warringah, which brought 25 tries in 72 appearances and culminated in a 13-10 Australian Grand Final triumph over Parramatta at Sydney Cricket Ground in 1976, when he notched the match-winning score.
Six-footer Lowe, having enhanced his reputation as one of the game’s finest running second rowers (as well as having a powerful physique, his pace and high leg movement helped him stride out of tackles), returned to Rovers and played his part in the club’s resurgence under Roger Millward, which included league title success in 1978-79 and Challenge Cup glory against city rivals Hull at Wembley in 1979-80.
He hailed from the Bilton Grange area deep in traditional Rovers territory in East Hull, and captained both Hull Schoolboys and Yorkshire Schoolboys before being snapped up at 16 in January 1966 ahead of interest from Hull, whose coach Johnny Whiteley later took charge at Craven Park.
Lowe progressed through Rovers’ junior and ‘A’ teams and made his senior debut in the 17-17 home draw with Featherstone Rovers during the closing stages of the 1966-67 campaign, when team-mates such as Millward, Cyril Kellett, Bill Holliday, Peter Flanagan, Terry Major and Frank Foster helped the teenager make the transition to the first team.
He gained a regular place in an encouraging following season for the club, and played in the 8-7 Yorkshire Cup final win over Hull at Headingley and then the 17-10 Championship Final defeat by Wakefield Trinity, also in Leeds. Rovers also beat the visiting Australians 27-15.
Club player of the year in 1968-69, he made a try-scoring England debut in the 26-7 European Championship victory over Wales at Headingley in 1969-70, also featuring in the follow-up clash with France, who won 14-9 in Toulouse.
England won the three-team tournament on points difference, and Lowe also figured in the 1977-78 Euro success, helping England defeat France 13-11 in Toulouse (his fifth and final appearance was in the 20-15 win over Wales at Ninian Park, Cardiff, in November 1981).
Five months after his England debut in February 1970 came his Great Britain Test bow. After selection by Whiteley for the Australasian tour following a season in which Rovers reached three semi-finals (Yorkshire Cup, Challenge Cup and league play-offs), he played in the third Test against New Zealand in Auckland, marking the occasion with two tries as a 33-16 victory wrapped up a 3-0 success over the Kiwis after the Ashes had earlier been won 2-1.
As well as the World Cup in 1972, Lowe played in all three Ashes Tests in the Autumn of 1973, scoring two tries in the 21-12 win at Wembley before two defeats for Challinor’s team, and two when the Kangaroos repeated their 2-1 triumph five years later, when Peter Fox was Lions coach.
Lowe suffered a shoulder injury which eventually required surgery during the 1970-71 season, and so missed out on the Yorkshire Cup final win over Castleford early in 1971-72, but regained fitness and form, and having enjoyed World Cup glory, claimed Rovers’ player of the year award in 1972-73 after totting up 26 tries, a club record for a forward.
By the time Rovers were relegated from the newly-formed First Division in 1973-74, he was in Australia, although it took a period of wrangling for the two clubs to come to a deal, which was finally agreed at £15,000 for a three-year stay, after which Manly-Warringah would pay a further £10,000 or Lowe would return to Rovers on a free transfer.
While Lowe, who along with Great Britain team-mate Mal Reilly and local product Terry Randall, formed a formidable back row (another Lion, Steve Norton, had arrived from Castleford by the title triumph), took to the lifestyle, he decided to return to Rovers after the three years (Hull and Salford were also interested in him).
Manly-Warringah weren’t happy, claiming they wanted to take up the retention option and that he was still their player.
That led to another protracted dispute between the clubs, which then led to Rovers being thrown out of the 1976-77 Premiership after they risked playing him in the 18-13 first-round in over Warrington, despite the threat of ineligibility pending a ruling by the International Rugby League board, who had been called in as mediators.
Lowe, who due to the dispute withdrew from contention for Great Britain’s squad for the 1977 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, eventually got clearance to play again after the agreement of an undisclosed fee, and was in the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy-winning team of 1977-78, with Hull beaten 26-11 in the final at Craven Park.
The 1978-79 title was won by a two-point margin from Warrington and Widnes, against whom he scored in a crucial 15-8 away win late in the campaign.
And in 1979-80, Rovers avenged a 13-3 defeat by Hull at The Boulevard in the last Floodlit Trophy final by beating the Black and Whites 10-8 to lift the Challenge Cup for the first and so far only time.
Lowe missed a chunk of the 1980-81 season due to another shoulder problem (he also had back and elbow issues during his career), but still managed to fit in three further finals – those of the Yorkshire Cup (Leeds won 8-7 at Fartown, Huddersfield), Challenge Cup (Widnes won 18-9 at Wembley) and Premiership (Rovers beat Hull 11-7 at Headingley).
He then had a joint testimonial with team-mate David Hall against a Castleford All Stars side that included his former Manly-Warringah colleague Reilly, and in 1981-82, he represented Rovers in the John Player Trophy final, which Hull won 12-4 at Headingley.
Lowe played his last first-team match in 1982-83, after which he announced his retirement and became coach of Second Division York, whom he led to the Challenge Cup semi-finals in 1983-84 and promotion the season after.
But the top-flight stay lasted just one campaign, after which he stepped down, focusing on his work in property development and as a publican.
Lowe’s involvement with Rugby League wasn’t finished, however, because he joined the Rovers board, taking on the chairmanship between 1992 and 1994 (he was more recently football director), and in 1995, was England team manager for the World Cup on home territory, with Phil Larder’s charges making the Wembley final but losing 16-8 to Australia.
Current Hull KR president Mike Smith said: “We will miss his aura around the club that only great players bring and I’m sure the Hull KR family will hold him in their hearts forever. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Avril, Andy, Katie and all of his family and friends at this sad time.”
