Jerry Flannery: 'When you have had both sides and know how bad it feels when you are down, it will stand to you'
Jerry Flannery is back running again but bitter experience has taught him to take nothing for granted as he looks ahead to the World Cup. He spoke to Hugh Farrelly
Jerry Flannery believes that the younger players coming through the ranks at Munster can be the bedrock for the province's future.
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Irish club rugby is frequently referenced when charting the provincial and national successes of the last 12 years, but University College Cork rarely merits a mention.
Yet, UCC could have a significant role to play in Ireland's World Cup assault in four months' time. Their European Students' Cup success of 1999 tends to be lost in the euphoria that surrounded Ulster's Heineken Cup triumph later the same day but the side that landed College's first significant title since the Munster Senior Cup in 1981 was a seriously talented outfit.
While the majority of names will be familiar only to keen students of the AIL, four of that team could be playing at the World Cup. Tight-head Mike Ross is certainly one, while Mick O'Driscoll and Peter Stringer are well in the frame. Jerry Flannery is the fourth and, if fit and firing, would be a guaranteed starter at hooker.
However, after more than a year of injury setbacks -- two curtailed appearances off the bench for Munster this season and the last of his 36 caps for Ireland against France in 2010 -- guarantees are hard to come by.
Preparation
Not the best preparation, but one fact is indisputable -- Ireland's World Cup efforts would be strengthened considerably by Flannery's presence. He is the best all-round hooker available to Declan Kidney, with a proven record of performance under pressure. Now, with the clock ticking, it is a question of putting this injury to bed.
Without going into laborious medical detail, Flannery has had a fasciotomy -- surgery to counter the effects of compartment syndrome in his leg -- and now the hope is that he has enough time to be at full tilt come September.
In this regard, last Saturday was a good time to talk to Flannery. He had just come through his first session of proper running after completing three weeks' work in the country's only anti-gravity chamber in Belfast and, though fatigued, was happy with the outcome.
"I'm still feeling a bit crook," said Flannery. "I ran pretty hard today -- it's not an intensity thing, I could do a load of sprints and then literally just be trotting across the field and it will go.
"It's been difficult to work out the exact nature of the problem, is it a multitude of things or one? If the compartment syndrome has been the crux of the problem then that's sorted now, they are pretty positive. If everything goes okay, I should be back.
"It's been hard, very difficult last week, particularly. Harlequins at home in a European semi-final, a packed Thomond Park, beautiful day, Bank Holiday weekend, what more could you want? It was tough to watch, you just want to be out there.
"We have a psychologist in the squad, Gerry Hussey, he's a good fella. You talk about the mental challenges, and you set yourself mini-goals. The key is that you have a sense of progressing.
"There is an initial period of 'mourning'... you get p****d off but you have to realise that it's natural to feel that way and then say, 'okay, I have to move past this.' Then, every time you do something like, for me, finishing the anti-gravity work in Belfast, you go, 'right, that's one stage down, time to move onto the next one'."
Munster's loss to Harlequins in the Challenge Cup left the whole province feeling down, but Friday's win over Connacht helped and the carrot of a Magners League title creates the prospect of a positive end to the season.
Flannery believes the younger members of the squad will have a huge say in how Munster kick on from here.
"We need to try not to concentrate on all the negatives. You listen to what people are saying around the city and pick up the papers and read about 'Munster's demise' and you say, 'hang on a second, we have got a semi-final and a final here which can turn around the whole way Munster are going to look at this season.'
"We have so many young players coming through. I look at that 2009 Leinster team that beat us at Croke Park and how their whole squad seemed to grow in belief from there. Munster have a lot of older lads who have experienced a lot of that (success) and we all have to ask ourselves have we still got the same hunger?
"People make a big deal about the age profile -- and it is important -- but the younger guys can be the lifeblood of the team. Fellas like Mike Sherry, (Ian) Nagle and (Conor) Murray. Peter O'Mahony is another guy I would rate quite highly and (Simon) Zebo is an unpolished diamond."
As for Ireland, Flannery is reluctant to say too much, given his own situation and the memories of 2007.
"You understand why I am very, very hesitant to give any kind of overwhelmingly confident statement heading to the World Cup. First of all, I have to get fit to play rugby and then there's what happened the last time. We went to the World Cup... Celtic Tiger... pumped up to go and do it and we came back scalded, with our tail between our legs, not for lack of effort, just 'what the hell happened there?'
"But when you've had both sides and know how bad it feels when you are down, it will stand to you. Ireland have a good blend but nothing is taken for granted - no-one is entitled to anything."
Just as no-one is entitled to assume the former UCC boy will be back in time. However, anyone wishing to see Ireland do well is entitled to hope.
- Hugh Farrelly
Irish Independent
