A LANDMARK decision in the history of the IRFU was to concede to a request by an influential lobby to go professional.
Led by a number of prominent players, the 1995 decision has paid dividends. It has opened up opportunities within the broad scope of the game not only for players but also for coaches and other technical aspects of the game.
Munster, for its part, has seen a number of departures abroad, many of whom have proven to be very successful, particularly Ronan O’Gara, Felix Jones, and Mikey Prendergast. And it was no less unsurprising when Jerry Flannery was snapped by Rassie Erasmus as a coach with the Springboks.
The former Shannon, Connacht, Munster, and Ireland hooker has already had an interesting career.
His current move was to Harlequins, where he will finish his contract this Friday after the friendly fixture with Munster.
Flannery was always ever-ready to move when an opportunity beckoned and he joined Premier League giants Arsenal as a strength and conditioning coach as part of his Master’s degree in Sports Performance at the University of Limerick in 2013.
His time at the Premiership since 2020 has been formidable, “but the opportunity to move into international rugby and to work alongside Rassie again is very appealing to develop my career”, he said.
Injury resulted in Flannery retiring from the game in March 2012. He stayed with Munster as a coach before leaving in 2019 and took up the appointment with English Premiership club Harlequins as their line-out coach in 2020.
He has an impressive CV going back to his international days from 2005 to 2011, played schools with St Munchin’s College, won AIL trophies with Shannon and Heineken Cup medals with Munster in 2006 and 2008. He also has proved to be a very competent rugby pundit on television.
Back on home turf, Ireland will hope to continue their Grand Slam bid with a home Six Nations win against Wales at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday (2.15pm).
