Flannery facing up to battle of the Millennium
Flannery simply says: “What I draw from having played in two Heineken Cup finals at the Millennium Stadium is knowing how big the occasion is going to be.
“It’s having the experience of all those big occasions and knowing about all the noise and being able to cut through to what is important and being able to focus on your own performance. As players, we would be very foolish to regard it as anything other than just another big game.”
Equally, he insists: “It’s going to be very different, though, to when you go out there in front of 80,000 Munster fans. It will be the opposite to that this time, with 70,000 Welsh supporters, and we all know how passionate they can be. They’re like Munster fans.”
The livewire Irish hooker is also satisfied that he’s been able to push all the hype and sense of national expectation to the back of his mind, and that he and his teammates will be successful in looking on this as just another big international occasion.
“People keep talking about the 61-year gap since Ireland last did the Grand Slam and how that might impact on our performance,” he says, “That hasn’t really kicked in… if we’re in a Heineken Cup final, it means we would have won the semi-final three or four weeks previously and that build-up would be coming into the final.
“This time, literally, we knew nothing was going to happen for us if we didn’t beat Scotland at the weekend. We got back from Scotland on Sunday evening and it was straight into this week and it’s been a short build-up, so I don’t think expectation and any of that has kicked in.
“It would be brilliant for us to do it but we’ve only come off Scotland and then we were busily analysing Wales without too much time for worrying about outside influences.”
However, lest he was giving the impression that the Irish players weren’t aware of the significance and what it could do for the national psyche in these troubled times, Flannery added: “As players we’re aware of what’s at stake in the historical context of how long it has taken Ireland to win a Grand Slam. That’s there for us but it’s not like when Munster got to Heineken Cup finals in a couple of years and lost each time. Ireland haven’t been in that situation.
“For the lads who have been around for the last few years, it’s been a big disappointment that we haven’t won a Championship or a Grand Slam. It’s mainly from a personal viewpoint that I want to go out and do that. I’m ambitious and I want to win something.
“Okay, there’s been the Heineken Cup and obviously that’s massive, but I think they’re different because there’s a different challenge to the two of them so you can’t compare.
“Winning a Heineken Cup comes after eight months and it’s with lads you’ve been with every single day and you’re building up all season for this one day. With the Six Nations, the timeframe to prepare is so much shorter and there are so many different challenges, trying to get lads from different clubs to come in and gel and play at high levels within a short space of time.
“I don’t think the two are comparable but I suppose since we haven’t won a Grand Slam in 61 years, this would be the pinnacle of your career if we were to do it.”
Having been ‘rested’ for Rory Best against Scotland last week, Flannery spent a few restless nights before last Tuesday morning, when Declan Kidney announced the side for Cardiff. He says he sat there calmly, waiting for the number two name to be called out, but it still must have been nerve-wracking.
“It was out of my control and there’s no point in trying to second guess what the coach is trying to do because you’d just tie yourself up in knots,” he says.
“I was glad when I heard my name being called out and now I’m just trying to prepare myself as well as I can and give the best performance I can at the weekend.
“Missing the Scottish game was a massive disappointment and that’s the case with any Six Nations match. I suppose I felt I had played well enough up to then and when you look back on it and put a perspective on it, Declan has created an atmosphere within the squad where nobody thinks they have a right to be picked.
“That’s a good thing for it prevents complacency and drives us all on to work harder at training and to be sharper. You just have to work as hard as you can and that has been reflected in the results we have had so far. Everyone is just itching to get in the team and that leads to better performances.”
And that’s one good reason why Jerry Flannery believes he and his team will be at the right end of the result in the Millennium Stadium come 7.15pm tonight.
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