‘Quinny’ eyeing Cup heaven following suspension hell

IT’S been a tough few months for Alan Quinlan.

Coming up to the end of 2006 he was flying, back to his abrasive best at blindside flanker with Munster, looking good to pressurise — at least — both Simon Easterby and Neil Best for the Irish shirt.

On December 16th, he scored Munster’s bonus-point try against Cardiff Blues in Heineken Cup action at Thomond Park, having won man-of-the-match in the first leg a week previously in Cardiff.

With big games coming up in the Magners League and the Heineken Cup, Quinlan would have plenty of chances to impress Ireland boss Eddie O’Sullivan before the Six Nations. With a World Cup to follow later in 2007, it was all to play for.

And suddenly, it was all gone.

Scoring that try wasn’t the only significant action by the man his team-mates call ‘Quinny’ in those final moments against Cardiff. As Munster pressed for the bonus points the visitors repeatedly infringed, unpenalised by referee Joel Jutge. Eventually the fiery Tipp-man took the law into his own hands.

A stamp on the calf of yet another infringing player was to have serious repercussions. The Munster man was cited and subsequently suspended for six weeks. It was way beyond what others had received for far more serious transgressions. It wasn’t just his own pain, it was also the frustration of watching his team-mates struggle against both Bourgoin and more especially, against Leicester, knowing he could have made a difference.

Ultimately, hard man and all as he undoubtedly is, even Alan had to get a bit of help.

“We have a sports psychologist with us, Declan Aherne,” he said as Munster prepare for their Heineken Cup quarter-final against Llanelli this Friday; “Around the period of the Leicester game I sat down with him and had a chat. I felt bad that I wasn’t part of the team that day.

“He said look, ‘you have only another week and a bit to go (suspension), you have to draw a line under it; mourn and be sad ‘til the middle of next week then draw a line under it, it’s over’.

“That was great advice. After the Leicester game we all stayed together. We were disappointed obviously but we stuck together as a group and I felt very much a part of that. With their help, and that of Declan (Kidney) as well of course and his coaching staff, I drew a line under it. I could then refocus my energies on playing with Munster. There was still a lot to play for before the end of the season.”

What was left to play for, however, was still considerable — another Heineken Cup. Though Munster lost that Leicester game and lost their unbeaten Thomond Park record to boot, they still qualified for this quarter-final.

As Ireland were grabbing all the headlines in the Six Nations, Alan quietly went back about his business, first with Shannon in the AIB cup (“I’m grateful to Shannon and to Mick Galwey in particular”), then with Munster in the Magners League.

That comeback culminated in a magnificent display for Munster last Friday night against Ulster, in Ravenhill, a game in which a precocious Munster side came back from the abyss, turned a 21-3 half-time deficit to a heroic 24-21 victory.

Quinlan (as captain) and Jerry Flannery were the only two experienced players in a young Munster pack, but when the chips were really down, these two provided the leadership and the youngsters responded with a dynamic display that simply blew the Ulster pack away. Final act? A cross-field kick from Quinlan that landed in the arms of Munster debutant Brian Carney for the winning try.

He admitted: “I’m not under any illusions; my match-fitness could be better, but hopefully Friday night will have helped. It was a full 80 minutes of a physical contest. I got more into the game as it went on and hopefully that will help me. I wouldn’t play my role up — it was an important try but it was a team try.

It was a great team effort in the second half. The easy thing for those guys to do at half-time would be to go back in their shell and wilt and think, ‘I don’t want to be here, I’m not ready for this’. It was great the people stepped up, there was a belief there.”

That win has given Munster a terrific boost coming up to Friday’s game; Quinlan’s performance, however, was critical. It’s good to see him back.