Flannery expected to recover

THE Irish management team is confident hooker Jerry Flannery will have recovered from a bruised shoulder injury in time to be considered for selection for Ireland’s RBS Six Nations Championship opener against Italy at Croke Park on Saturday week.
Thirty-one-year-old Flannery made his comeback from an Achilles injury when playing 40 minutes for Shannon in their AIL Division 1A clash with UL-Bohemian at Thomond Park on Saturday.


However, as a result of his bruised shoulder injury Flannery is not included in the Ireland A squad to face the England Saxons in Bath on Sunday.
There was good news for Flannery’s Munster colleague Marcus Horan who is included in the A squad to face the Saxons this weekend. Horan, who played the final 10 minutes of Munster’s Heineken Cup game with Northampton on Friday night, played the entire 80 minutes for Shannon in that AIL clash with UL-Bohemian the following day.
Horan is joined in the 22-strong Ireland A squad by Munster colleagues, Tony Buckley, Mick O’Driscoll, Niall Ronan, Ian Dowling, Denis Hurley and Peter Stringer.
Limerick-born centre Keith Matthews, currently playing with Connacht, is also named in the squad.
Speaking at the Irish training camp in Limerick this week, manager Paul McNaughton said: “Marcus Horan played 10 minutes with Munster on Friday night and has been involved with his club side in their two most recent AIL games.
“He is definitely going across to England this weekend to get some game time against the Saxons.
“Jerry Flannery got 40 minutes of game time on Saturday. He has a bit of a bruised shoulder and we will not risk him on Sunday against the Saxons. Jerry should be eligible for selection for the Italy match.”
A number of players sat out the Irish squad training session in Limerick this Tuesday. Donncha O’Callaghan (knee), Sean Cronin (sprained ankle) and Stephen Ferris (shin) did not train, but none of the players have been ruled out of contention for the first weekend the RBS Six Nations Championship. Keith earls has not yet joined the Ireland training camp due to illness.
The team and replacements for the Ireland ‘A’ team’s clash with the England Saxons at the Recreation Ground, Bath at 2pm on Sunday is named this Thursday.
Prior to Saturday’s AIL match at Thomond Park when her lined out for Shannon, hooker Flannery had not seen competitive action since helping Ireland secure a precious Test win over World Champions South Africa in November.
Afterwards Flannery, who was making his first appearance for the AIL holders since a 2007 appearance against UCD when he was coming back from a shoulder reconstruction, said: “This is my first time to get any game time since the South Africa match and it was good to get through 40 minutes. For the team to get a win was the main thing.
“One half was all they wanting me to play. This is my first week back with rugby. They wanted to limit my game time to 40 to see how the injury reacts. But I came through it ok.
“It was good to come back and play for the club. You see some things haven’t changed with the club. Andrew Thompson is still around and a lot of the other guys are too.
“Marcus was playing and Gaillimh (Mick Galwey) was also in the dressing room after the match. There was a real good family feel about the club, especially after the hard week it has had.
While he has been able to do running exercises while injured, 34-time capped Flannery was relieved to be able to play a competitive game at the end of the week.
“It is the same no matter what level you play rugby, you want to get a game at the end of the week,” Flannery explained.
“For me, it was just a normal week. For seven weeks previously, I was just running all the time and icing the leg and see how it reacts. It was like a seven-day week. Instead of taking the weekend off and playing a game you were giving the injury as much time to recover as you can. It is good to be able to train towards playing.”

Ireland A Squad v England Saxons, Recreation Groud, Sunday January 31, 2pm:
Rory Best (Ulster), Isaac Boss (Ulster), Tony Buckley (Munster), Darren Cave (Ulster), Ryan Caldwell (Ulster), Ian Dowling (Munster), John Fogarty (Leinster), Marcus Horan (Munster), Ian Humphreys (Ulster), Denis Hurley (Munster), Shane Jennings (Leinster), Keith Matthews (Connacht), John Muldoon (Connacht), Fergus McFadden (Leinster), Johne Murphy (Leicester), Mick O’Driscoll (Munster) , Sean O’Brien (Leinster), Niall Ronan (Munster), Mike Ross (Leinster), Peter Stringer (Munster), Devin Toner (Leinster), Paddy Wallace (Ulster).

Colm Kinsella

Across The Gain Line . . . with Colm Kinsella

THE deafening noise which greeted the arrival of Irish lock Paul O’Connell back to his old school Ardscoil Ris on Monday was only surpassed by the incredible din which followed when the Munster skipper asked whether the pupils should get a half day from school this Friday!
Less than 24 hours after helping Ireland secure their first Grand Slam success in 61 years, O’Connell honoured a promise he had made to his old school some months ago to drop in for a visit.
The school’s Director of Rugby Des Harty said many other players would have opted out of the visit given the exceptional circumstances, but the Munster skipper had lived up to his word by turning up. Paul O’Connell told the captivated students that the two reasons he had gone so far in his rugby career were Ardscoi l Ris and Young Munster RFC.
The captains of Ardsoil’s Ris various school’s rugby teams then got an opportunity to ask the Irish lock some questions about the sport.
O’Connell was asked whether he felt the British and Irish Lions Tour to South Africa this summer would prove to be a success?

Taking nothing for granted
Although he is taking anything for granted himself, 29-year-old O’Connell looks a certainty to be named in Ian McGeechan’s squad for the tour when it is unveiled next month.
Indeed, the second row is second favourite- behind his Irish team mate Brian O’Driscolll- with most bookies’ to be named as the Lions skipper.
O’Connell told his enthralled audience that he firmly believed the Lions tour could prove successful because of the expertise head coach Ian McGeechan would bring with him from his time managing a successful Lions Tour in the past.
O’Connell said he felt it had been easier for Lions squads in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s to bond as a team. This was in the pre-professional era and more of an emphasis was placed on bonding and the social aspect of things. There had not been much of an emphasis on team bonding during the tour to New Zealand in 2005.
O’Connell felt Ian McGeechan would place a bigger emphasis on the importance of team bonding during the course of this Tour.
In relation to Ireland’s win in the Six Nations championship O’Connell said the side had not played the most glamorous rugby at times, but it was winning rugby.
The Young Munster clubman said the greatest memories he would take from his time playing school’s rugby was of the friends he had made there.
“Most of the guys I played with then are still good friends of mine. I have made friends for life from those days,” Paul O’Connell said.
O’Connell’s schoolmates at Ardscoil Ris at time included former Munster and current London Wasps star Mossie Lawler, Garryowen captain Paul Neville and Young Munster centre Clem Casey.
Paul O’Connell played for the Irish school’s team in the 1997-98 season.
Asked what advice he would give to any schoolboy playing rugby today, O’Connell said physical fitness was a massive part. The 6’ 6” second row said an average player could become a good player by getting fitter and faster than the guy beside him.
O’Connell also advised the budding young rugby players to work on their ball skills and to bring a rugby ball with them wherever they went.

Lions selection
Since the final whistle sounded at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday night, newspapers, radio, TV shows and websites have been inundated with possible Lions selections for the First Test against South Africa in June. Guessing the make-up of the team to face the Springbok is an interesting past time, but the reality is that several players who are seen as ‘certain’ starters right now, will not be in the XV for the Durban clash.
Some players will lose form or get injured and several more who are seen as most likely to be involved in the mid-week games (dirt-trackers as they are referred to in some quarters) will succeed in forcing their way into the Test side.
One respected rugby man with a proven track record, who offered his views on the possible make-up of the Lions Test team, was Gareth Edwards.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Edwards’ team consisted of six Irishmen, six Welshmen, two Englishmen and a Scot.
He opted for Paul O’Connell as team captain, adding: “It just feels right. Willie John McBride in ‘74, Martin Johnson in ‘97. The successful template is there. (Brian) O’Driscoll would then be freed up to concentrate on his game and getting the best out of the Lions back division, which he will effectively run.”
Gareth Edwards’ Lions XV: Lee Byrne (Wales), Tommy Bowe (Ireland), Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland), Riki Flutey (England), Shane Williams (Wales), Stephen Jones (Wales), Dwayne Peel (Wales), Gethin Jenkins (Wales), Jerry Flannery (Ireland), Euan Murray (Scotland), Alun Wyn Jones (Wales), Paul O’Connell (Ireland, capt.), Tom Croft (England), David Wallace (Ireland), Jamie Heaslip (Ireland).

Munster jerseys
One question which occupied the minds of many Irish rugby fans in Cardiff last weekend was why Munster fans persist with wearing their Munster jerseys at international games? Sure they are proud of where they come from, sure they are proud of their team’s achievements.
But on Saturday, at the Millennium Stadium in TV shots, decked out in their red jerseys, several Munster supporters were mistakes for Welsh fans.
Is the current recession a contributing factor? Are fans who have a Munster jersey in their wardrobe unable to find the disposable income necessary to buy an Irish shirt? But then again if they can afford to travel to Cardiff to watch Ireland play surely they can find the money to buy a jersey. The intrigue continues.

Colm Kinsella

‘Ireland can kick on from here’

INSPIRATIONAL international lock Paul O’Connell believes Saturday’s dramatic Grand Slam success can prove the launch pad for further Irish rugby glory. Twenty nine-year-old O’Connell turned in an awesome display as Ireland claimed a first Grand Slam success in 61 years with a nail-biting 17-15 victory over Wales at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.
O’Connell said: “I absolutely believe Ireland can kick on from here.
“In the last three games we have not played fabulously well.
“We have just been clever in what we have done. We went about winning games. That is the most important thing.
“It was something we had lost track of before. We can develop here now. I think if you try to play expansive sometimes you can hit a wall.
“In this Six Nations we have relied a lot on our pack.
“I think it is easier to build from there.”
O’Connell paid tribute to the part coach Declan kidney had played in the success of the side.
“Deccie (Declan Kidney) has the Midas touch,” O’Connell enthused.
“We had a lot of meetings. He was trying to get players to say things, to try and get them to come out with different things.
“In fairness, there was a lot of good things said.
“We had a good meeting in Enfield over Christmas. We had Padraig Harrington in that week. He was highly inspirational.
“A good atmosphere was built out of that.
“It was a very important time for that team.”
O’Connell said honesty and humility were two of the defining traits of the current Irish side.
“I think, being Irish, this is a humble team,” O’Connell said.
“A lot of the stuff which went on in the media in the lead up to the game with Warren Gatland, you wouldn’t see an Irish coach doing that.
“You wouldn’t see an Irish person doing that. We are very honest in everything we did.
“That is a big part of our trait.
“That is a big thing with Munster and with Ireland too.”
After a string of outstanding displays O’Connell is a certainty to be included in Ian McGeechan’s 35-man Lions squad for this summer’s tour to South Africa - that squad is set to be named next month.
The Irish squad members rejoin the Munster set-up this week as Tony McGahan’s men step up preparations for Friday night’s away Magners League tie with the Glasgow Warriors (kick-off 7.45pm).
It seems likely that the vast majority of Munster’s contingent in the Grand Slam-winning side will be rested this weekend ahead of Saturday week’s crunch Magners League clash with Leinster at Thomond Park.
Meanwhile there was disappointment for the two remaining Limerick sides in this season’s AIB Cup when Garryowen and Young Munster exited the competition at the semi-final stage.
Garryowen suffered a shock defeat away from home to Second Division Ballynahinch while Young Munster came out second best in their semi-final clash with Cork Constitution at Tom Clifford Park.

Colm Kinsella

‘I have loved Munster all my career and now I really love this team’

“I HAVE loved Munster all my career and now I really love this team. It is a special dressing room at the minute." Frank, compelling and ecstatic, Ronan O’Gara is wearing a smile as broad as Cardiff’s River Taff.
Fly half O’Gara has known some wonderful days at the Millennium Stadium with Munster. Now he has scaled the dizzy heights in the green of Ireland. The 32-year-old has a Grand Slam, RBS Six Nations Championship and another Triple Crown to go with his two Heineken Cup medals. Having come close to securing a ‘Slam’ on several occasions in recent years, O’Gara could now savour the magnitude of the team’s achievements.
“It was fantastic. It was bloody difficult. We made it difficult at times and we also played great rugby,” Ronan O’Gara stressed.
“We could have ripped them apart. We had them on the rack. They came back and I think the penalty count was something like 17-4 which was unbelievable.
“To win a game with a penalty count like that against us proves the bottle in the team. That is what counted. We stuck at it away from home. We had fantastic support. I think half of Ireland must be here.
“There is great belief in this team now and it is a happy team.”
So what did O’Gara remember of the drop goal which ultimately secured Ireland’s first Grand Slam title in 61 years?
“That drop goal came about 90 seconds too early!,” O’Gara insisted.
“I remember Clive Woodward saying that it took 30 seconds to win a World Cup and it is the same with winning a Test match.
“That is all you need. The forwards did fantastic and then Rory Best got lost a little bit. I was hoping he would get out of the way. They (Wales) definitely cheated on the charge, so I had to get the ball up as opposed to kick through it. That meant I had to break my technique. I spiralled it through which shouldn’t happen for a drop goal, but it went straight.
“But as you saw there was a lot more drama left after that. I think when you score two tries you deserve to win two finals. They never looked like scoring a try and that was the key point. There is massive support for this team.
“This morning I had three fellows, David Humphries, Nicky English and Barry McGuigan from three different sports, sending me powerful texts. And that gets through to you.
“It shows what you represent when you see the President on the pitch.
“I thought Brian (O’Driscoll) was exceptional. I thought we came good in the second half. We probably had a quiet first half, made a few errors, but then we came good when the pressure came on. That is all we need. We had key men in the key positions. There is real belief in this team. We were not going to lose this game. Mistakes happen when you are put under pressure. People forget sometimes that your heart rate is up around 200. It is easy looking at it from a seat and commenting on it.
“We don’t intend making mistakes. I don’t intend making a mistake, but they happen. You just keep at it and keep going, giving the forwards direction. I think we scored two fantastic tries. We were the side which put them under pressure more. But the whole thing today was about belief and this team has belief now.”
O’Gara’s Munster colleague Donncha O’Callaghan had the inkling that Wales were going to ‘target’ the Irish out-half from the moment their captain Ryan Jones stuck out a leg to trip him in the opening minutes.
So O’Callaghan let Jones and the Welsh know that Ireland would not be intimidated, even if his chastising of the Welsh captain resulted in the visitors conceding the first of a whopping 15 penalties.
“They definitely targeted Rog. When you see a buddy being treated like that, you want to look out for him,” Donncha O’Callaghan said.
“Granted, it is probably not ideal to get into the game like I did. I always pride myself on my discipline. Sometimes you cannot be bullied either. If you look at the video I am sure you will see plenty of incidents where Rog (Ronan O’Gara) got cheap shots. When you have a player of his quality and you go out to play against other teams, they are going to target him. When it is your friend, you are going to row in behind him.
“Rog showed what an incredible pro he is with that drop goal late on. Another fellow would have kept his head down and ran out the gate.
“But Ronan thrives on pressure like that. I know that when our front five or front eight saw that ball coming back to him in the dying minutes of the game, it could not be coming into safer hands.
O’Callaghan found the hours leading up to Saturday’s 5.30pm kick-off long.
“The time before kick-off was hell. The day crawled,” Donncha O’Callaghan revealed.
“A 5.30pm kick-off for an international is a disaster, to be honest.
“The only comfort you can take is that David Wallace is worse that everyone. He comes down ash-faced, looking like a Goth. That’s it. Once you know there is one person worse than you, you know you will survive.
“People say you should enjoy that, but I don’t personally enjoy it. It’s the aftermath of a game you win that you enjoy. It is not just about this team. There are the fellows who have gone before. You like at the effort the likes of Earlsie (Keith Earls) and Quinny (Alan Quinlan) made. You feel sorry for these guys who didn’t make it into the 22. There is a great togetherness in the squad.”
O’Callaghan said it was great that a bunch of players who had endured a hugely frustrating World Cup less than two years ago had bounced back in such style.
“We had some really tough days at the World Cup. To have a special day like that with the group of lads is great,” O’Callaghan said.
“There is a different feeling around the team as well. Everyone has rowed in behind us as well. The support we have received has been incredible.”

Colm Kinsella