James Downey (born 23 March 1981) is a former Irish rugby union player. He played as a centre. In May 2016, Downey announced his retirement from rugby.

Early life

Downey was educated at

Belvedere College Belvedere College S.J. (sometimes St Francis Xavier's College) is a voluntary secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland. The school has numerous alumni in the arts, politics, sports, science, and business. History Belvedere owes its origin ...

, where he won the Leinster Schools Junior Cup.

Leinster

Downey made his debut for his home province on 10 October 2003, against

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby ( cy, Rygbi Caerdydd) are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms ...

. He scored his first try for Leinster on 2 April 2004 against Glasgow Warriors. Downey left the province to join Connacht for the start of the 2004–05 season.

Connacht

Downey struggled to gain game time at Connacht due to injuries, managing only three games during the 2005–06 season, and was released from his contract.

Munster

In an effort to find more game time, Downey accepted a trial at the then

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

champions

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

. He made his debut against Cardiff Blues in the Celtic League on 1 September 2006. Downey played two more games for Munster, against

Border Reivers Border reivers were Cattle raiding, raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. They included both Scotland, Scottish and England, English people, and they raided the entire border ...

and Glasgow Warriors, but left Munster when offered more game time with Italian club Rugby Calvisano.

Calvisano

The lure of Heineken Cup rugby led to Downey joining Italian Super 10 (now Top12) side Calvisano. The club were in Pool 3 of the

2006–07 Heineken Cup The 2006–07 Heineken Cup was the 12th edition of the European Heineken Cup rugby union club tournament. The pool draw took place on 21 June at Twickenham. The pool stages started on 20 October and concluded in January, going for six rounds. Foll ...

and, after releasing one of their centres, were looking for a new player. Then coach, Marc Delpoux, had been impressed by Downey when Connacht played Narbonne in October 2004, and brought him to Brescia.

Northampton

Downey signed for Saints in June 2007. He made his debut for the club against London Welsh in National Division 1 on 1 September 2007, and scored his first try against

Bedford Blues Bedford Blues are a rugby union club in the town of Bedford, England, currently playing in The RFU Championship. Bedford is one of the few towns in England where the rugby club is better supported than the football team. The Blues are a semi-pro ...

on 22 September. He was part of the Saints team that secured promotion to the

Guinness Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

in 2008. In the 2008–09 season, Downey helped Saints secure European silverware when they beat

CS Bourgoin-Jallieu CS Bourgoin-Jallieu is a French rugby union club currently competing in the third level of the French league system, Nationale. The club have been runners-up in the French championship and the French Cup competitions, and have won the Challen ...

to secure the

2008–09 European Challenge Cup The 2008–09 European Challenge Cup was the 13th season of the European Challenge Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from six nations in European rugby. It started in October 2008 and ended with the final at the Twick ...

Return to Munster

Downey rejoined

on a two-year deal from the 2012–13 season. He arrived in Cork to join up with the Munster squad in May 2012, after playing his last game for Northampton. Downey played his first game of his return to Munster on 1 September 2012, starting at Inside Centre in their opening league fixture against Edinburgh. He scored his first try for Munster in their league fixture against

Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

on 23 February 2014.

Glasgow

On 27 June 2014, it was announced that Downey had signed a two-year contract with Glasgow Warriors.

Loan to Wasps

On 10 February 2015, it was announced that Downey had joined

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

side Wasps on loan for the remainder on the 2014–15 season.

Ireland

Downey's form for Northampton saw him earn a place in the Ireland A team for the

2009 Churchill Cup The 2009 Churchill Cup took place between June 6 and June 21, 2009, marking the seventh year of the Churchill Cup. For the first time in the tournament's history, all rounds were held in the United States. This was done in an effort to reduce the ...

. He came off the bench in the opening fixture on 10 June 2009 against Canada, before starting against Georgia on 14 June. Downey had to settle for an appearance off the bench again as Ireland A beat England Saxons 22–49 to win the 2009 Churchill Cup Final. On 2 June 2013, Downey was added to the senior Ireland squad to tour North America. He made his senior debut for Ireland on 15 June 2013, starting against Canada.

Honours

;Northampton Saints *

European Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

(1): 2008–09 ;Ireland Wolfhounds * Churchill Cup (1):

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

References

External links

Glasgow Warriors ProfileLeinster ProfileMunster ProfileNorthampton Saints ProfileIreland ProfileWolfhounds ProfileERC Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Downey, James 1981 births Living people Alumni of University College Dublin Rugby union players from Dublin (city) Irish rugby union players Leinster Rugby players Connacht Rugby players Munster Rugby players Ireland international rugby union players Northampton Saints players Glasgow Warriors players Wasps RFC players Rugby union centres People educated at Belvedere College Irish expatriate rugby union players Irish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate rugby union players in England Expatriate rugby union players in Italy Expatriate rugby union players in Scotland