INTERVIEW JERRY FLANNERY: John O'Sullivanfinds the hooker is not perturbed by his lack of game time ahead of tomorrow's Test. A model rehabilitation programme has seen to that
JERRY FLANNERY doesn’t quite bristle when the word injury is introduced from the outset of a conversation but there is a world-weary look in his eyes. It’s an understandable reaction in a season that has seen him start just a single match for Munster, the Heineken Cup pool opener against the Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens.
Indeed the longest sequence of matches he’s put together is three, with Ireland in the November Test series. Chronicling his misfortune, or at least the most recent chapter, begins when he suffered an elbow injury while training with the Lions, days before they were due to depart for South Africa during the summer.
The most recent was an Achilles tendon that required surgery in December. He embraced the rehabilitation period with customary diligence and a mental toughness that expedited his comeback. Experience has taught him about the dangers of returning too soon so the temptation to play against the Saints at Thomond Park was tempered by common sense and the guidance of the medical staff.
He trained with Munster that week, played 40 minutes for Shannon in an AIB League match and tomorrow will take his place at hooker in the Ireland team for the opening Six Nations Championship game against Italy at Croke Park.
He’ll let others worry about a lack of game time. “I don’t have any concern about it. I’m just looking forward to getting out and playing. I feel sharp, I’ve trained well. I’m 100 per cent and looking forward to it now. Just getting back playing and getting a normal rugby week together, it’s been something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time.
“It’s been frustrating, all right, but I suppose injuries happen and it’s just about trying to be patient at times. You know I might have come back too early at times during the season and rushed it a bit but I think I’ve listened to everything the medical staff have said to me and I’ve been careful not to overdo things, so hopefully that’s me out of the woods now.
“The biggest thing I’ve found with injuries, mentally, is that when you get a big injury you spend a few days mourning and then you just get on with it; everyday you’re getting better from there on in, and you set yourself little targets.
“It’s when you come to the very end of an injury and you think, ‘right, I’m going to be available to play next week’, and then next week comes around and it’s pulled away from you. The end-line’s in sight but it keeps getting pulled off you because of niggly things. That’s the real tough thing to deal with.”
The Shannon and Munster hooker points to the fact Ireland training is hardly a cuddling session and the intensity and combativeness ensures he is properly prepared for tomorrow’s assignment. He’ll need to be because the Italian team relish the confrontation of the forward exchanges at scrum, lineout and breakdown.
“I think in comparison to some of the other teams they’re probably a bit more dangerous without the ball, with the pressure they try to put on other teams. We’ve looked at it, they’ve a very strong set-piece; a strong lineout – offensive and defensive – and they scrummage well.
“They have some good ball carriers, they have playmakers there and with the Italian temperament they bring a lot of passion to the game as well. It’s about staying disciplined and playing with a game-plan throughout the 80 minutes.
“They’re very, very confrontational and they’re aggressive. They work very hard so it’s a case of trying to match them and trying to go that bit further all the way through (the match), and hopefully with the kind of backs we have, holes will open up in the last 20 minutes.
“That’s generally been the case. Sometimes you get panned after the games, the media say ‘it took until the 60th minute for Ireland to open up,’ but there’s a cumulative effect of playing a team like that; they’re so attritional. You have to keep showing up, keep showing up, keep showing up and eventually the holes will come.”
If Ireland are to subscribe to those tactics it’ll take a massive physical effort and if Flannery manages 65 minutes-plus it’ll be a huge vindication of the work he’s put in over the past few weeks.
Whatever about his own wishes the Limerick man would never jeopardise those of his team-mates so he won’t be looking for any mitigation in his fractured season. He wanted an opportunity to play and he’s been granted that: it’s down to him now and he wouldn’t want it any other way.
