Rugby: Mother of all battles for new dad Lowrey

New dad Chris Lowrey is bound to get a wake-up call from Scott Higginbotham. Photo / Getty Images

Centrestage in Brisbane tonight with more than 30,000 boisterous fans, Blues flanker Chris Lowrey might battle to stay alert.

Sounds unusual for this trans-tasman duel with the high-rating Reds - but it has been an awkward week.

More difficult for his wife Puna though, who gave birth to the couple's first child, a son, early on Wednesday.

Lowrey was looking excited and weary as he settled into the Blues' team run late that afternoon after surviving rounds of congratulations from teammates and endless media inquiries.

His mind will be in a whirl as he wakes in Brisbane this morning, trying to focus on the task ahead at Suncorp Stadium.

All is well at Auckland Hospital, mother and son Ngafa are fine, after insisting the breadwinner take his skills to help deal to the Reds in Brisbane.

The blindsider said he was ready, coach Pat Lam slapped him in the line-up for what should be an enthralling contest and personal duel against Scott Higginbotham, the Reds' rugged hitman.

"It was an amazing experience, I was going to stay home if he was not born. It was an all-nighter, it all went well and we ended up having a water birth," Lowrey said.

How does he get his head round the rugby then?

"I think it will be pretty tough. Since he was born I haven't been able to keep my eyes off him but my wife is very supportive, she wants me to go and play."

Lowrey will be home again tomorrow after the hit and run trip to Brizzie, talking fatherhood and he hopes an extension of the Blues nine-match unbeaten streak.

Coach Lam used Lowrey as an example of the determination he wants tonight. Last round against the Hurricanes, Lowrey had chased back and tackled opposite Jeremy Thrush, dislodging the ball and saving a try.

Recent weeks have been a mental test for Lowrey with preparations for approaching fatherhood, mixed with selection in a variety of roles for the Blues.

He favours No 8 but has been blindside then a starting lock as the side's resources have dwindled. He is back in the No 6 jersey tonight instead of recovering All Black Jerome Kaino.

"It concentrates the mind but the good thing about rugby these days is that it doesn't matter what number you have on your back," Lowrey said.

"Where you start at setpiece is different but your core jobs round the field are still the same.

"You have to be able to run the ball, tackle, catch and pass so the game does not change too much, it does not matter if you have a No 4 or 6 on your back."

At one stage Lowrey only wanted the No 8 jersey but he now has a stronger appreciation of the locks' workload, the number of breakdowns they have to get to and the cleanouts they have to make.

His shoulders were still feeling the effects of two games as lock but for the Reds he is at blindside. It is further acclaim for his versatility.

"Otherwise I might not get the chance to start unless there were injuries because there is some competition in this squad.

"It is a different dynamic too, getting a full game rather than five to 10 minutes off the bench."

Staring him down at Suncorp will be the Reds duo of Scott Higginbotham and Radike Samo, who alternate between No 8 and blindside duties.

Higginbotham is a Wallaby, a boisterous player whose temperament took him away from a childhood soccer path to a career in the 15-a-side game.

"It's good to be able to hit people and take your aggression out that way," he said.

This season he has been labelled a villain for swerving into Drew Mitchell's lane resulting in the wing's serious ankle injury. The flanker got a serve from the crowd in Melbourne last week.

"I think it's been building over the last couple of weeks, starting with Drew Mitchell, and I had a bit of karma coming my way I think," he said.

The Reds are aiming to piggyback Higginbotham's firepower tonight to avenge their home defeat to the Blues in the third round last season.

"It would be tough to go into a bye week with a loss and then you have to dwell on it for two weeks and not one, so all the boys will be up for this," he said.

Lowrey knows the clash will be very confrontational. The Reds and Higginbotham would like the Blues to know they were about.

"I came across him a couple of years ago and he was like that and I think he has just added more confidence, he is quite a strong-willed character," Lowrey said.