IRELAND v NEW ZEALAND: AS REDEMPTION stories go, there can few better in rugby this year. About fifth choice All Blacks scrumhalf around the time of the World Cup a little over a year ago, Jimmy Cowan then seemed set on self-destructing - and very publicly at that - just as his career was taking off. But to arrive here as first choice All Blacks number nine says something about his inner strength.
Three separate incidents of drink-related disorderly behaviour this year had, as the saying goes, taken him to the last chance saloon. There have been far worse crimes committed in every country in the world this year, but being an All Black means they came in the full glare of the media and public.
A car bonnet had been trampled and a nightclub bouncer threatened in what 26-year-old Cowan candidly admits was the low point of his life. He was fined by both the NZRFU and the courts, with his employers also ordering him to undergo counselling and stay off alcohol.
He has succeeded, to such an extent that this evening's game offers him his latest shot at redemption. You'd think he'd shy away from interviews and at any rate the subject, but to his credit he was first into the All Blacks' interview room and happily addressed his personal issues.
Whatever demons lurk within, you'd scarcely sense it on meeting him. Self-assured and relaxed, he pauses to give considered answers, often with a ready smile. Reflecting on those difficult days in May and June, he admitted candidly: "They were tough times, I was in a dark place, I was at rock bottom and you can't go any lower. I had to reassess my life and where I was going. I'm glad it happened; I'm benefiting now.
"I could be here for half an hour explaining who helped me. You look at the people I'm around now. The All Black players, management, the rugby union, all those people kept faith and showed me a lot of respect."
But reassessing and realigning his life and his career had to first start with him. "Realising I had a problem was the first step; I'm trying to fix it but I'm only in the early stages."
Without doubt, the damage to his international hopes had been self-inflicted, yet when many in New Zealand were calling for him to be punished more severely, the NZRU fined him NZ$3,000 (€1,323). (In August, a court convicted and discharged him on one account, and also fined him NZ$3,000 on the other. His lawyer argued that Cowan turned to alcohol due to "raging" personal issues, while a third trial is still pending.)
What's more, he was retained in the All Blacks squad and was on the bench for the Tri-Nations opener against South Africa. Cowan had "previous", given he was sent home from a Junior All Blacks tour to Australia in 2005, and All Blacks manager Darren Shand had made it clear this was Cowan's "last chance" when also stating: "Jimmy must change his behaviour if he wants to be a professional rugby player in New Zealand. We have made it a condition of his employment that he stop drinking altogether."
It was a considered and sensitive response from both his employers and his coaches, which has reaped its full reward so far.
In the event, it was the misfortune of others which was to benefit him, as Brendon Leonard and Andy Ellis both sustained injuries. Leonard had to undergo knee surgery, sidelining him for six months, while Ellis suffered a damaged rib cartilage in the third Tri-Nations match against Australia, a 34-19 defeat in Sydney.
Cowan was granted his chance against the Wallabies a week later in Auckland, having started only one of his 13 Tests up until that juncture. The All Blacks gained a vengeful 39-10 win and Cowan started the ensuing wins over South Africa and Australia (twice) before being rested last week in Edinburgh.
"Who would have thought it, eh?" Cowan admitted as he reflected on sport's whimsical nature and his own roller-coaster of a year. "I think this game is about taking your chances, isn't it? And it just shows that I've stuck in for the long haul, and I'm reaping the rewards now but it's through hard work too.
"I'm very fortunate with where I've come with injuries to other guys ahead. It's disappointing for their sakes, but it's a bonus for my sake too. So I can't look too far behind, and just concentrate on my job in hand, really."
Such a work ethic has always characterised a career which has also seen him stay loyal to his home province of Southland, not exactly a frontline New Zealand provincial team, nor a conveyor belt of potential All Blacks. What's more, at one point he could have taken up a very lucrative offer to play in France.
Cowan is the third All Blacks scrumhalf from the small central Southland town of Mataura - before him were Lindsay Townsend (1955) and Justin Marshall - which has inevitably meant comparisons with the latter. "It doesn't help that we're from the same place," he says, and smiles some more when adding: "I assure you I'm my own man and he's his own man.
"I certainly take aspects of his game as I do from all halfbacks. He was a class act, he played 70-odd Tests for the All Blacks and I show him a huge amount of respect. But I promise you I'm my own man and he's his own man."
He says he doesn't bother about having rivalries with fellow "halfbacks", maintaining he has good friendships with them, but also admits to being turned off rugby when overlooked for the World Cup.
"To be honest, I got right away from rugby when I missed the squad. I just got away from it and cleared my head of it. I just hung around with friends, turned the telly off and played a lot of golf.
"But I was hurting just as much as they were when they lost. There had been three or four years of hard work to win the World Cup and to miss out on that was a huge disappointment."
Near Invercargill at the foot of the South Island, Cowan makes light of his home town's relatively unfashionable image. "It's not too bad," he says of Mataura. "There's not much there. It's got a university, the "freezing works"," he quips in reference to the nickname for the local slaughter house, "and a rugby field and that's about it, mate."
It was at Mataura club he began playing at about six or seven, while going to school at nearby Gore High School. From there he began playing under-age rugby for Southland under-16s and under-18s. His younger brother Scott also plays, and nearly joined Bective last year and he says his parents - Brynwyn and Paddy - were the biggest influences on his career.
"Not so much for the brand of rugby but just for what they did for me and my younger brother. We were into a lot of sports: cricket, rugby, touch rugby, and they always managed to drive us around from one part of the countryside to the other on Saturdays and Sundays. So it took up a lot of their time and a lot of their weekends. I owe them a lot."
Of his father's playing career, Cowan smiles and says: "He tries to tell me he was quite sharp, he was a second-five/centre with Mataura. I'm yet to see it but he promises me he was quite a handy footballer in his day."
It was also as coach of his under-16 school team his father made one of the most crucial decisions of his son's career, by converting him from a winger-cum-fullback-cum-centre to scrumhalf.
Making the New Zealand under-19 side fuelled his childhood ambition to one day play for the All Blacks. "Something I thrived on was putting on the All Black jersey, and touring round the world playing rugby. I just wanted it more and more."
Having progressed through the New Zealand under-19 and under-20 ranks, it seemed he was always destined to fulfil his childhood ambition. Cowan made his Test debut against Italy in Rome four years ago, but had to wait until his ninth cap to wear the number nine jersey. Unfortunately for him, his first start coincided with a 20-21 loss to the Springboks at Rustenberg in 2006.
"It's still vivid in my mind, that loss. I probably took a hammering from the people at home," said Cowan, who was subsequently overlooked by the All Blacks selectors until the England Test at Eden Park in June this year.
Strong and physical around the fringes, with an eye for a gap and a good kicking game, his all-round game is better now.
"It probably comes down to a bit of maturity. I'm 26 now and I've played a fair bit of rugby. I can see a lot more on a rugby field in the last couple of years and probably the big thing is maturity. I'm doing all my homework off-field so I've got real good preparation and I think that's lifting my game at the moment."
Ironically, the squad had visited the Guinness Brewery on Tuesday, but Cowan intends resisting temptation for the remainder of his career. "It's not hard because at the end of the day I had a decision to make. It was either rugby or the drink and it's a pretty easy sacrifice to make when you think about it."
"Playing for the All Blacks means the world to me. A lot of people would love to be doing what I'm doing. I can go back drinking when I finish rugby, I haven't missed it too much."
He says this five-Test, six-match tour is hard going and describes Ireland respectfully as a great side and a very physical one. "Just imagine them playing in front of 82,000 people. It's going to be a battle." But, of course, he wouldn't be anywhere else.
"Sitting here is pretty special," he says, and declines to reflect on how well things are going at the moment. "I'm enjoying it. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself." No wonder.
Jimmy Cowan
Position: Scrumhalf
Born: March 6th, 1982
(Gore, Southland)
Height: 1.82m (6ft)
Weight: 92kg (14st 7lb)
Tests: 18
Test points: 10
Test debut: Nov 13th, 2004
(v Italy, at Rome)
Province: Southland
Super 14 team: Highlanders
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)