Flannery: We’re now legitimate targets

PAIN, accepts Jerry Flannery, goes hand in hand with ambition, but the Munster hooker doesn’t want a repeat of the hurt inflicted on the province by both Connacht and Ulster in recent weeks.

He and his colleagues were clearly relieved at getting a Heineken Cup boost for tonight’s crucial Pool 1 clash with Sale Sharks in the form of a Magners League victory in Wales last weekend.

Knowing that the quality of Munster’s season hinges on the outcome of two matches in the next eight days, Flannery hopes victory over the Ospreys was a sign of better things to come.

In relation to the Christmas period, he said a lot of things went awry and it required a comprehensive evaluation.

“We knew, for instance, that our set pieces, such a strong point always of Munster rugby, had not been that good and set about trying to make it much better. We worked very hard on our scrum and lineout and when they both fired at the weekend (against Ospreys), I think other good things followed from that,” he said.

If there was a lesson to be learned from Connacht and Ulster Flannery says, it has now to be recognised that everyone wants to beat the champions.

“We have to realise that we’re now legitimate targets for everyone; we’re the team everyone wants to beat.

“In that sense, we’ve got to learn to cope. We can’t make excuses for poor performances but have to ensure that we play every game to a certain minimum required level, and that we show consistency through both the Magners League and Heineken Cup.

“Of the two matches, the one against Ulster was somewhat bizarre in that we didn’t play well, we made mistakes and suffered badly because they were so clinical on the night,” he said.

Following that defeat, there was a slight change of emphasis from the “last game, next game” focus to the necessity to deal with a bank of three fixtures — the Magners League game with Ospreys and the Euro ties against Sale and Montauban.

“The focus is on three victories with one achieved; the aim was so we would be top of the League and the Heineken Cup at the end of that section of the season. We have two games to ensure it happens,” he said.

Munster will be fearful tonight but not totally because of the quality of opposition, despite the respect that exists for the Sharks.

Flannery explained: “It’s more fear of what we might not achieve ourselves; we don’t want to find ourselves in a similar situation to the Ulster game where we let ourselves and the supporters down.”

But Flannery is aware it won’t come easy, believing Sale now carry more weight and experience than they did two years ago at the same venue when Munster put them to the sword.

“They have a very good blend between a strong pack and strike runners out wide, lots of hard working forwards and great broken field runners like McAlister (Luke) and Lamont (Rory), two guys capable of carving up teams given the slightest opportunity,” he said.

Munster, it has been suggested, have been favoured by the appointment of Nigel Owens as referee. Flannery conceded that the Welshman was amongst Munster’s favourite whistle-blowers, but insisted he would do them no special favours, nor would any be expected.

“We like him because he likes good rugby to be played, he has always been fair with us and we have always tried to show our respect for him. He’s a guy who is never afraid to make big calls when he has to. You can’t ask for much more than that.”