Horan and Flannery leading from the front row

MARCUS HORAN and Jerry Flannery are serious rugby players, two ultra-professional men who take every game personally.

Shoulder to shoulder, with long-time team-mate John Hayes on the other side of the front row, they go into every game with Munster and with Ireland as if going into battle, which, in a sense, they are.

The front row is front line, it’s populated by hardmen, by strongmen, by guys for whom full-on confrontation is a way of life. In such circumstances you’ve got to be able to trust the man alongside you.