Nick Timoney’s Ireland renaissance a reward for years of quiet persistence

By the start of last season, Nick Timoney had turned 30 and had played just four games for Ireland. Three of those were as the starting openside, against the USA on his debut in July 2021, Fiji and Georgia. It hadn’t been a bad career, but it wasn’t the one his exceptional promise had suggested.

However, after a couple more appearances last November, Timoney suddenly became an ever-present in matchday squads during the Six Nations. Saturday’s Nations Championship game against Fiji will be his tenth successive Test for Ireland and his first start at number eight, after playing the last 35 minutes there a week ago in the win over Argentina.

If Timoney goes well – and does so again next week against South Africa – he’ll have underlined his value as an option at number eight as well as openside. At long last, he is close to becoming an integral part of this Irish squad.

His story is proof that it’s never too late and he can be an inspiration to all thirtysomethings.

“It’s through believing in yourself and never giving up,” said Andy Farrell of Timoney’s late blooming. “And having the appetite, week in, week out, to keep on improving, and then the recognition of that improvement.

“He gets a sniff within camp, and we always say that when people come into camp, it’s very interesting to see what they do with that.

“It’s obviously lit a flame for Nick and he’s gone after it hard ever since getting back into camp. He gained a few stars, didn’t he, as far as what his team-mates think of him as well, in how he went about his business last week.

“He’s pretty important.”

Even by Blackrock College’s standards, Timoney always stood out. He was captain of the team that won the Junior Cup in 2011 and was part of the team that won the Senior Cup in 2013. He then captained a side featuring Joey Carbery, Hugo Keenan and a 15-year-old Caelan Doris at blindside that beat Clongowes in the 2014 final. That Clongowes team was coached by Noel McNamara.

Timoney was always a number eight through his school years. He was coached for three years on the Senior Cup team by Peter Smyth, now back with Leinster as elite player development officer.

Recalling the 2011 Junior Cup final against St Michael’s, Smyth said: “He actually scored a close-range try that day and it was a tell-tale sign of what was to come, just the power. Even at 16, he was a step above, you could tell. He was the ball-carrying eight. His ability to get off the back of a scrum was phenomenal.”

Smyths standout memory of the 2014 final came near the end of the match.

“We were narrowly ahead and Clongowes had a lineout five or 10 metres out. I thought, ’okay, we’re in a little bit of trouble here’. Clongowes were driving forward and it looked like they were going to score. Suddenly, Nick Timoney comes around, hits it and literally stops the thing dead virtually on his own.

“This buys a second or two for everyone to get back on their feet and we were lucky that the ball broke and Conor Oliver got us a turnover. But that was typically Nick. Any time we were in trouble, he could play big. Even going back over those years, he did have this consistent excellence in the ability to turn games and make a big play, but in a very unfussy manner, if that makes sense.”

Timoney also won the school’s 100m final that year, beating Hugo Keenan into second place, as well as the javelin and shot put, and broke all manner of records in bench presses.

“There was a guy called Dave Sweeney who did athletics in the school and Nick worked with him, as did Hugo. Nick also won the relay and won the hammer. So, when you see the jigsaw completed and you go back, all the parts were there from the early days.”

Smyth describes Timoney as being a great kid.

“He was never a screamer and a shouter. He always had that quiet determination and resilience. It’s no surprise, really, seeing a big chunk of time pass and seeing how he conducts himself and how he went about things. He’s actually become the complete backrow forward, hasn’t he.”

Smyth coached with a Kiwi, Gareth Pickering, who is now with Connacht as a pathway coach. He thought Timoney could have been a winger. Pickering designed moves with Timoney as the main strike runner, sometimes exchanging places with a scrumhalf to feed a scrum and run wide off it, and other times leaving him on the wing in loose play.

But being the forwards coach as well as the head coach, Smyth was always of a mind to keep Timoney at eight.

“He was so athletic and quick, and he doesn’t just go north-south. He can hold his feet, he can sidestep, he can pause and accelerate again. He’s a very interesting type of ball carrier and he had a lot of those traits as a younger player as well. He could see space and manipulate space.”

Along the way, the move to Ulster also meant shifting to openside more, albeit he has still played over 40 per cent of his games for the province at eight, and as a result Timoney has become more of a threat over the ball.

We saw that in the 24th minute against Argentina last week after he stopped Mateo Carreras in his tracks as if the winger had run into a wall. Then, a phase later, Timoney won a turnover penalty. This led to his own carry off the lineout from Dan Sheehan’s inside pass and Keenan’s second try. He would use his footwork again in the build-up to Keenan completing his hat-trick.

Despite Timoney’s illustrious underage career, including being an ever-present in the 2015 Under-20s Six Nations and World Cup, he wasn’t offered an academy place by Leinster. Smyth notes that Jamie Heaslip, Sean O’Brien, Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier and Dan Leavy had preceded Timoney, and Max Deegan was a contemporary.

“It was more about timing than talent,” says Smyth. “The great thing was that he got an opportunity up in Ulster and he’s been some success up there, which is brilliant.”

Smyth also attributes Timoney’s relatively late flowering simply to the backrowers that have been around.

“I mean Josh, World Player of the Year [in 2022], Caelan coming through, Jack Conan . . . It’s not as if there haven’t been excellent backrowers in the same generation as him. Some generational backrowers. Sometimes you have to do it the hard way when there’s a lot of competition.”

Opportunity finally knocks now, but Timoney still could have several more years left in him.

“The one thing I would say about him, he was so diligent and committed, and really ahead of his time in the way he trained and looked after himself,” said Smyth. “He may be 31, but he’s so well-conditioned and he’s looked after himself from such a young age.

“Even in the three years I had him at school, he got better each year. It’s not as if he hasn’t had his challenges. He wasn’t offered a place in Leinster, he went to Ulster, he was involved in the sevens programme. He’s had to be patient.

“It’s been a bit of a rocky road. It didn’t all fall for him. He had to go out and prove himself. Even now, my 82-year-old father still talks about Nick Timoney and still rates him as one of his favourite players going back to his ‘Rock days.

“He’s very unassuming and has time for everyone. I’m delighted for him. I know everyone in Blackrock is delighted for him just to see him have these opportunities. It’s brilliant for everyone who has worked with him.”

Farrell had wanted Timoney to up his physicality in defence, and there was further evidence of that last week when he drove back Guido Petti in the tackle, not to mention holding up another lock, Pedro Rubiolo over the Irish line.

The head coach also echoes Smyth in explaining Timoney’s late blooming.

“I think there’s that little bit more belief in what he’s able to do, and he’s backing himself because of his preparation,” said Farrell. “It’s second to none. He’s a clever guy, so he’s able to work things out, certainly in camp, over a short period of time.

“But as he gets on, his physical fitness, how he’s built and how he goes after his training, he’s getting better and better. He’s a powerful athlete that’s got a bit of pace as well, so he’s certainly hit the ground running this season.”