‘You don’t go to Northampton for the shopping’

CONCENTRATION. Preparation. Focus. The buzz-words are drifting around the cafe when you sit down with Jerry Flannery. In fact, you’re even a bit conscious of having that little biscuit that comes with your cup of coffee as the Munster hooker breaks down what professionalism means.

“It’s about trying to squeeze everything you can in your favour. Coming up to big games with Munster, it’s a matter of getting the intensity right. It’s easy to stop focusing in training, because that’s stop-start, but in matches it’s got to be full-on. You’ve got to try to maintain your concentration, even though it’s never going to be at the same level all the time.

“But if you prepare yourself mentally to get into that zone in training it can be easier to get into it on the day of a game. It’s difficult to hold your concentration for a long time, which is why we put a lot of emphasis on having the 15 players talking on the field rather than relying on Paul O’Connell or Ronan O’Gara to lead the team all the time.