'A quality outfit. They put us away'

RUGBY/NORTHAMPTON REACTION:AMIDST ALL the celebrations, spare a thought for Jimmy Downey. In the aftermath of this epic collision, one couldn't but feel an enormous amount of sympathy for the Dublin man.

If the Leinster centres, one and two years older than Downey, didn’t possess the most comprehensive bodies of work in Irish international rugby – well, along with Mike Gibson – and if both weren’t so stubbornly raging against the dying of the light, then Downey would be a household name on his home patch.

He is a warrior and has become a heroic figure in the English west midlands. So, spare a thought for the barrelling No 12 this morning. It must have been a tough weekend, knowing everyone in Dublin, all your close friends, had entered the realms of euphoria on Saturday night.

Being the decent skin that he is, Downey paused en route to the dark confines of the Saints’ bus to attempt to put into words the jarring experience of being on the wrong end of a 27-point swing.

“We came out of the blocks. Ah, the second half; two separate games, to be honest with you. I thought we might have held on but it just didn’t happen for us.”

From the off, Leinster were braced for the now trademarked Downey charge, but instead he neatly stepped inside Gordon D’Arcy’s inside shoulder. This was the damaging feature of the first-half – Saints attackers stepping inside, then powering through Leinster tackles.

And it was Downey who set the tone. A one-trick pony can’t do that, nor can it pack down as an openside wing forward, as he did when Brian Mujati was sinbinned and Calum Clark withdrawn.

In that opening 40 minutes, the 30-year-old surely enhanced his candidacy for Ireland’s World Cup squad.

Someone asked him if he was surprised by how much Northampton were ahead at half-time.

“No, I don’t think so. I thought we were playing alright. Our scrum was going well. Second half just didn’t happen and, again, hats off to Leinster, they forced us into mistakes.”

Northampton forwards coach Dorian West said it was “a half and a game too far” in a long and punishing 32-match campaign fighting on two fronts, but Downey was having none of it.

“No, I don’t think so. We knew they were going to come out at us. We didn’t think they were going to come that hard. As I say, quality outfit. They put us away. I didn’t think we would leak so many tries. Maybe one or two.”

Afterwards Leinster players who have played with and against him over the years, dating back to schoolboy days, came over to shake his hand.

“Yeah, a few of them came up. Wasn’t even thinking, to be honest.”

An English reporter pressed for more information. How was it for you to play against your former club? “Look, it’s no consolation. It doesn’t bother me really. I don’t know what to say about it. I didn’t even think about it.”

A professional to his fingertips, and amidst all the smiles, the numbness that follows a defeat of like this must also be recognised.