We’ll be back, declares Varley

TONY McGAHAN’S plan had been to bring Jerry Flannery into the fray after 47 minutes of Saturday’s Magners League semi-final against Leinster but it was blown sky high during the warm-up when the Ireland hooker went down with the recurrence of the calf injury that has been bothering him for the past few weeks.

It quickly became aware as he hobbled up and down the touchline that Flannery would be unable to take any part in the Magners League clash against Leinster and that as a result, Damian Varley would have to play the entire 80 minutes. To his great credit, Varley maintained the form that has brought him into the frontline over the first couple of months and performed so well that he was actually singled out for special praise by Leinster captain Shane Jennings.

“I didn’t know what was happening on the sidelines but obviously it’s policy to use your bench in tough games like this,” Varley said. “People tire and it’s good that the bench is used. It was a physical game, no doubt about it, but it’s also a professional game. You need to get your head down and work hard and keep working.