Green cards for Flannery and O’Leary

MUNSTER and Irish hooker Jerry Flannery whose elbow injury ruled him out of the Lions tour to South Africa has received a boost from Irish coach Declan Kidney who has decided that he and Tomás O’Leary should spend time with the Churchill Cup squad in Colorado for a couple of weeks from next week.

Neither, of course, will be capable of participating, or indeed of doing any significant training but Kidney believes it will be to their benefit to be in the company of fellow professionals rather than toiling away by themselves at home.

Flannery described it as a good call, saying: “I could be back home in Limerick, feeling sorry for myself and allowing other people feel sorry for me.