Hanrahan learning to focus on controlling the controllables

JJ Hanrahan knows there’s an opportunity to stake a claim for a European quarter-final start when Munster face Zebre in Limerick tomorrow night but since a lightbulb moment with Alby Mathewson earlier this season, the fly-half will not waste energy worrying about it.

Hamstring troubles for Munster first-choice 10 Joey Carbery that cut short his involvement in Ireland’s Six Nations campaign have rolled over into the provincial season as it turns towards a critical phase.

Carbery may well be fit to face Edinburgh in next weekend’s Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final at Murrayfield but while there is a doubt over the former Leinster star’s fitness, Hanrahan feels ready to hit the ground running at Thomond Park this weekend and at the very least give head coach Johann van Graan a selection headache ahead of the European last-eight clash.

Yet the Kerryman will do so without getting caught up in the eventual outcome, the “will he, won’t he” get picked conundrum that used to consume his waking hours to the detriment of his performance levels.

That is thanks to the time the 26-year-old shares with Mathewson during the regular extra skills sessions led by the former All Black scrum-half and in which fellow backs Sammy Arnold and James Hart participate.

It was a conversation with the experienced Kiwi (who joined Munster early in the season as short-term injury cover for Conor Murray but has earned a contract to the end of the season) that changed Hanrahan’s mindset and helped him, he believes, free himself to concentrate on becoming a better player.

“Alby’s been a big influence since he’s come here,” he said.

He has changed my mindset a little bit. I was probably more worried about week to week stuff, ‘am I in, am I out?’ for too long and my energy was wasted as opposed to focusing on skill work and focusing on becoming a better player.

"The coaches will select you if they want to and you can’t really control that, all you can do is be the best player you can be.”

Hanrahan freely admits it did not take long for the penny to drop once Mathewson had shared his insight.

“No, once he said it to me I was like, ‘yeah, I’ve been stupid, haven’t I!’

“So yes, sometimes all you want to do is play so much that that can take all your energy. Now, you still do your extras. You still do your skill work and stuff but you have that as your main focus as opposed to worrying about whether you’re playing or not at the weekend. That’s a very, very different thing.”

It has also helped Hanrahan improve his skillset as well as his mindset.

One hundred per cent. Whatever you put in the front of your mind, whatever you focus your attention to, if the focus is practice then there’s always going to be a better outcome.

Such an outlook this season has helped Hanrahan regain the momentum with his native province following his return in 2017 after two injury-hit seasons in England with Northampton Saints.

He signed a two-year contract extension in early December to keep him at Munster until at least June 2021 and the following weekend stepped into the breach when Carbery withdrew with a tight hamstring just before kick-off in the home Champions Cup pool game with Castres.

Hanrahan finished that game with a try, 15 more points from the boot and the man of the match award and the opportunity appears to have presented itself for him to perform a similar role tomorrow in the Guinness PRO14, seven days out from the European quarters.

“Everybody wants to get a bite of that (European) cherry. That’s where you want to be, at that top table. You want to be tested at that level and you want to try and play for Munster at the European quarter-finals and hopefully beyond. That’s where everyone in the squad wants to be.”

Not that the focus has strayed from the business at hand on home soil when Zebre visit Thomond Park tomorrow night.

“Yeah, it’s a big weekend for the club, a big weekend for the team, and every game’s important. Glasgow are three points ahead of us in the pool and we must aim to keep the pressure on them by putting in a good performance, first and foremost.

"We have to respect Zebre, they bring a massive amount of linespeed, a massive amount of passion, and they’ll come and they will hit your hard. If we’re not ready for that we’re going to be in for a long night.”