Shane Lowry: An Irish win over New Zealand would be one of the great Irish sporting moments

I’m really excited to be in Japan for the ZoZo Championship that tees off next week and will get to go to Ireland’s Rugby World Cup quarter final against New Zealand on Saturday.

I’m a big rugby fan – I go as much as I can. I’d go down to the RDS to watch Leinster and would go to as many Ireland games as I can. Outside of the GAA, it would probably be my favourite sport.

It will be some occasion against the All Blacks and it’ll be pretty cool to witness it.

If we pull it off, it will be one of the greatest days in Irish sport.

I’m quietly confident. We’ve beaten them before and this Irish side are due a big performance and there’s not a better time than now to do it.

I’d also love to see them show a few people up by doing it. Prove the doubters wrong. They’ve got an awful lot of stick in the last few weeks – unwarranted in my opinion. They’re trying their best, they’ve reached the quarter finals now and that’s all they can do.

Ok, they didn’t top the group, but I still think there’s a big performance in them.

It’s funny. When you’re a sportsperson in Ireland and you meet other sportspeople you just instantly click – I don’t know why but it just happens. I’d have met plenty of the lads over the years and would see them the odd time. I’d live near the Leinster lads and we’d grab the odd coffee together and have a chat. Just shootin’ the breeze in general. Nothing intense – just how’s life and how are you getting on?

I’d stand there wanting to talk about rugby and they want to talk about golf. That’s the way it is.

I’m away from home now for two and a half weeks and it feels like an eternity. But the rugby lads are away for at least twice that, depending on how deep they go in the competition. It’s even longer when you count the pre-tournament camp.

It’s incredible how long they spend away from home. At least when I’m away I can bring my family and we stay together in the same hotel or house or whatever. The rugby lads don’t have that option.

I’ve spent a lot of time in Asia and it’s a big culture shock to what you’re used too, so more than a fortnight away is difficult. At least they have the camaraderie of the group to fall back on whereas golf is a more individual game. There’s pro and cons to both.

Mind you, I’m sure homesickness won’t be a factor if it means getting past Saturday’s game and reaching the semi-finals.

While I’ve played in Japan before, but have never been to Tokyo, so that’ll be some experience. There’s something like 38 million people there, if you include the entire metropolitan area.

The ZoZo Championship is a big event so I’ll be getting plenty of practice in, starting next Monday. There’s no cut, so that’s a plus, and there’s plenty of Fed Ex Cup points on offer as it also kick-starts my season on the PGA Tour, as they sanction it.

It’ll be great to get four competitive rounds in ahead of the HSBC World Golf Championships in China afterwards and onto either South Africa or Turkey, before the final push in the Race to Dubai.