No regrets as Downey takes the road less travelled back to Thomond

THE old adage is that good things come to those who wait, and in the case of Northampton Saints’ Irish centre James Downey that phrase could hardly be more apt.

Spend time with the 28-year-old and he can barely contain his excitement ahead of tomorrow’s winner-takes-all Heineken Cup clash with Munster at Thomond Park .

This, after all, is a man who freely admits he is surprised he’s not coaching youth rugby by now after a career that seemed to have petered out at 24. Looking back, Downey smiles broadly at the memory; having quit Leinster after realising he was never going to make it as a centre in a side that contained Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy, he was released by Connacht and seemed to be at a dead end.

On the off-chance he called up Declan Kidney and spent four months with Munster, before making what he thought at the time was the worst decision of his life – quitting Limerick for a short-term contract with Calvisano in Italy .

There followed a time where his frustration at the poor standard of rugby was only offset by the quality of life, not to mention the pasta and red wine, before another chance phone-call, this time from Northampton’s retiring centre David Quinlan, set in motion another change of club. On this occasion, though, the move worked out perfectly, and the Dubliner poses a genuine threat to Munster’s astonishing record at Thomond Park, where only victory is likely to be good enough for the Saints to make the last eight.

“I’ve no regrets about any of the decisions I’ve made. It’s a pity that this didn’t happen when I was 22 or 23, but I’m settled and I’m happy. I’ve always been very persistent and you know that these things have a way of working out.

“I was at Leinster and knew I was never going to get in that team, and then got released by Connacht. Declan Kidney gave me a chance and I really enjoyed my time at Munster but at 24 I needed to be playing regularly.

“So the offer came in from Italy and I gave it a shot. I have to admit that I thought I’d made the wrong decision as I believe I could have made it at Munster, and the rugby was very frustrating – the referees killed the game.

“In the end I was just glad to get out, and I’m very thankful to (Saints head coach) Jim Mallinder for taking a chance on me”

There was always one man who was frustrated Downey hadn’t stuck it out at Munster – his father, Jim, a lifelong fan. And if you spot a man and woman sitting in the stands at Thomond Park tomorrow night, he clad in the red of Munster and she in Saints colours, then you might well be sitting next to Mr and Mrs Downey. “My Dad keeps telling me not to show him up in front of all his mates,” laughs their son. “My cousins are from Limerick as well and they’ll all be going, but I hope my Dad is supporting me – he’d better be. We know it’s a massive task as Munster are so strong at home. But we are quietly confident and we know what we have to do.

“And as for me, if I’d stayed at Munster then I might have faded away and just been doing a boring nine-to-five now, working with kids on the rugby pitch or something like that.”