Varley puts down a marker

MUNSTER re-energised their Magners League challenge with the five-pointer against Connacht on Saturday when a basically second strength side ran out 35-3 winners.

It was performances like that which earned them the league title last year when, as always, the senior international players missed large swathes of the season.

As Paul Warwick pointed out at the weekend, “we are blessed with the strength of our squad” and that is even more the case now as a series of impressive and consistent displays have seen Damien Varley arrive on the scene as a serious option at hooker. With Jerry Flannery a regular injury victim, considerable onus has fallen on the shoulders of Denis Fogarty and it is vital Varley has arrived to help carry the load.

“Damien has been excellent since he came into the squad this year,” said Munster coach Tony McGahan after Saturday’s game.

“He’s got an excellent work ethic and is an excellent professional. He’s very strong on the ball, he carries it very well and I thought he had a very solid display.”

That’s a view shared by the squad in general with a player as experienced with Paul Warwick describing Varley’s display against Connacht as “amazing”. And yet those who know him longest have always regarded him as an outstanding prospect.

At St Munchin’s he was a member of the team that won the 2002 Munster Schools’ Senior Cup when he scored two tries in the 20-19 final victory over PBC at Musgrave Park. Fellow Munster squad players Donnacha Ryan (St Munchin’s) and Tom Gleeson (Pres) were also playing that day.

He was a member of the Garryowen teams that completed the All-Ireland Cup and League and Munster Cup treble in 2007 and was also picked for the Ireland AIB Club international team. He did have a little game time with Munster against the Ospreys in May 2006 before moving on to London Wasps in 2008, making a dramatic debut with a last-minute winning try against Leicester Tigers.

He made ten appearances for Wasps but when he got the opportunity to join Munster came along this season, Varley jumped at the opportunity and in a pre-season friendly announced his presence with a try against London Irish. With Jerry Flannery and Denis Fogarty ahead of him in the pecking order, he was prepared to bide his time w when the call came from Tony McGahan. With Flannery so unfortunate with injury, it became very much a case of Fogarty playing the first hour with Varley coming for the final 20 minutes and so far it’ worked very nicely in the Heineken Cup matches against Treviso and both Perpignan games. And at last came his first start against Connacht on Saturday.

“Patience is a big thing when you’re breaking through,” Varley acknowledges. “There are two great players, Jerry Flannery and Denis Fogarty, ahead of me, so all I can do is train hard and when I get opportunities, I have to take them.

“When you’re coming off the bench, it’s tough to get into the game, especially in the front-row. You’re trying to get your second wind, you’re scrummaging and throwing line-outs, but that’s the nature of the job and we have to get on with it.”

Common-sense from a 26-year-old, 5 ft 11 inch, 16 stone 11 lbs hooker, under no illusions that things will not come easily for him now or in the future. He has loved his twenty minute cameos in the Heineken Cup, readily agreeing that the game at Perpignan was the highlight of his career to date. Varley’s line-out throwing has been one of the strong points of his performances this season but it wasn’t always like that.

“When I was playing AIL, I struggled in that area big time,” he confesses. “It’s just one of those skills you need to practice and work on.

“When I was in England last year, I spent a lot of time on it especially when I knew I was coming back to Munster where set pieces are a focal point. You have to have your line-out right, you have to have your scrum right. If you want to progress in this game, you have to spend time at it, practice and train hard.

“Ulster next Saturday is another big game for us. We had a good win over them a few weeks ago but Ravenhill isn’t an easy place to go to and win. We hit a lull of 20 minutes in the second half against Connacht and we’ll work hard on that. One to twenty two, we worked extremely hard for we needed a good win to bring us the table.

“I have two great players ahead of me so my ambition is to keep my head down, to train hard, put my hand up and hopefully be counted some time in the future.”