Jerry Flannery

Jerry Flannery

Birth name	Jeremiah Paul Flannery
Date of birth	(1978-10-17) 17 October 1978 (age 45)
Place of birth	Galway, Ireland
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	100 kg (16 st; 220 lb)
School	St. Munchin's College
University	University College Cork
Rugby union career
Position(s) Hooker Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) – Shannon () Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2001–2003 Connacht 6 (0) 2003–2012 Munster 93 (40) Correct as of 18 June 2011 International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2005–2011 Ireland 41 (15) 2009 British & Irish Lions 0 (0) Correct as of 12 September 2011 Coaching career Years Team 2013–2014 Arsenal F.C. (Strength & Conditioning coach) 2014–2017 Munster (Scrum coach) 2017–2019 Munster (Forwards coach) 2020–2024 Harlequins (Lineout & defence coach) 2024– South Africa (Defence coach)

Jeremiah Paul Flannery (born 17 October 1978) is an Irish rugby union former player and current coach. During his playing career, Flannery, a hooker, played for Munster and Ireland, before being forced to retire in March 2012 due to injury problems. He joined Munster as a coach before leaving in 2019, and, in 2020, joined English Premiership club Harlequins as their lineout coach. ^[1]

Playing career

Early career

Although capped at Ireland Schools level while attending St Munchin's College (Limerick), and with a fine underage pedigree, Flannery had to wait patiently for his opportunities, but made the most of those that eventually came his way. He began his professional career with Connacht, where he spent two seasons vying for the hooker's jersey with Marnus Uijs.

Munster

Flannery then moved to Munster, where he initially found his opportunities severely restricted by the consistent form of Frankie Sheahan, a regular Ireland international. He did, however, make his Heineken Cup debut as a replacement against Stade Français at Thomond Park in the quarter final in April 2004, which Munster won 37–32.

Following a serious neck injury to Sheahan in 2005, Flannery made the Munster Number 2 jersey his own. Voted Man-of-the-Match on his first try-scoring Heineken Cup start against Castres, Flannery's outstanding form and ability to compete at the highest level meant that he was promptly called into the Ireland squad, and made his international debut against Romania in November 2005 where he came on as a replacement. He played a key part in Munster's Heineken Cup winning teams of 2005/06 and 2007/08.

He missed the majority of the 2009/10 season through injury, playing only 6 matches, and also missed much of the 2010/11 season, again through injury, featuring only against Toulon in October and Ulster in January. His most recent injury occurred during the Ulster game.

His last game for Munster was the above-mentioned fixture against Ulster in January 2011, a game which Munster won 35–10 in front of the Thomond Park crowd.

Ireland

By January 2006, Flannery was installed as Ireland's first-choice hooker, and played his first full international game against Italy in the Six Nations Championship. He retained his place in the side that claimed the Triple crown in 2006, and was unanimously chosen as the Six Nations' best hooker of that season.^{[ citation needed ]} In the 2006 mid year test series Flannery played all the matches against New Zealand and Australia scoring one try. Bedevilled by injury in late 2006, Flannery briefly lost his place in the Ireland side to Ulster's Rory Best. Flannery did, however, appear as a replacement in each of Ireland's Six Nations fixtures in 2007.^{[ citation needed ]}

Having toured Argentina with the shadow squad, he was also a try-scoring member of Ireland's 2007 Rugby World Cup squad in France, starting the games against France and Argentina. He was a member of the victorious Ireland team that won the 2009 Six Nations Championship and Grand Slam. ^[2] Flannery was suspended for 8 weeks in 2008 for stamping on Julien Bonnaire; the penalty was subsequently reduced to 4 weeks, which allowed him to play in the 6 Nations tournament. ^{[3] [4]}

In February 2010, Flannery was cited for "an alleged kick" on France wing Alexis Palisson during the 2010 Six Nations Championship defeat in Paris. ^[5] He received a six-week ban which ruled him out of the remainder of the 2010 Six Nations. ^[6]

Flannery missed the 2010 June Tests, the 2010 November Tests and the 2011 Six Nations through injury, but was selected in Ireland's preliminary squad for the 2011 World Cup warms-ups in August. He made his comeback against Scotland in the 2011 Rugby World Cup warm-up in August, and was selected in Ireland's 30-man squad for the World Cup. Despite coming through Ireland's four warm-up Tests in August and the first pool game against US Eagles in September, Flannery suffered a recurrence of the troublesome calf injury in training and was forced to withdraw from Ireland's World Cup squad, being replaced by Damien Varley. ^[7]

He stayed in New Zealand for the second pool game a week later against Australia, handing out the match jerseys to the players before the fixture, an occasion described as 'emotional' by the Irish players and staff. The opening game against the USA turned out to be Flannery's last for Ireland, as injury ruled him out of the 2012 Six Nations Championship and forced him to retire in March 2012.^{[ citation needed ]}

British & Irish Lions

On 21 April 2009, Flannery was named as a member of the British & Irish Lions for the 2009 tour to South Africa. ^[8] One month later, however, on 21 May, he sustained an elbow injury during training which ruled him out of the tour. ^[9]

Retirement

After a series of long-term injuries, Flannery announced his retirement from playing in March 2012. ^[10]

Coaching career

Flannery started a master's degree in Sports Performance at the University of Limerick. ^[11]

In July 2013, Flannery joined Premier League football team Arsenal on a work placement as a strength and conditioning coach. ^[12]

Flannery returned to Munster as scrum coach when Anthony Foley's backroom staff were announced on 20 May 2014. ^[13] In June 2017, Flannery signed a two-year contract extension with Munster, with his role expanding from Scrum coach to Forwards coach. ^[14] He left his coaching role with Munster in June 2019, ^[15] and, in June 2020, joined English Premiership club Harlequins as their lineout coach. ^[1] Flannery, whose remit at Harlequins was expanded to include defence coaching, signed a new permanent contract with no end date with Harlequins in February 2022. ^[16]

Business interests

Flannery owns a stake in MaximumMedia, the parent company of websites Joe.ie and Her.ie. ^[17]

He owns Jerry Flannery's, a large sports pub in Catherine Street, Limerick. ^[18]

Broadcasting

Flannery has also worked as a pundit for eir Sport's television coverage ^[19] and continues to do so for RTÉ.

Statistics

International analysis by opposition

Against	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Tries	Points	% Won
Argentina	3	1	2	0	0	0	33.33
Australia	3	0	2	1	0	0	0
Canada	1	1	0	0	0	0	100
England	4	3	1	0	0	0	75
Fiji	1	1	0	0	0	0	100
France	7	1	6	0	0	0	14.29
Georgia	1	1	0	0	0	0	100
Italy	5	5	0	0	1	5	100
Namibia	1	1	0	0	1	5	100
New Zealand	4	0	4	0	1	5	0
Romania	1	1	0	0	0	0	100
Scotland	5	3	2	0	0	0	60
South Africa	1	1	0	0	0	0	100
United States	1	1	0	0	0	0	100
Wales	3	3	0	0	0	0	100
Total	41	23	17	1	3	15	56.1

Correct as of 5 July 2017 ^[20]

Honours

Munster

• European Rugby Champions Cup :
  • Winner (2): 2005–06, 2007–08
• United Rugby Championship :
  • Winner (2): 2008–09, 2010–11

Ireland

• Six Nations Championship :
  • Winner (1): 2009
• Grand Slam :
  • Winner (1): 2009
• Triple Crown :
  • Winner (3): 2006, 2007, 2009

References

1. "Jerry Flannery joins Premiership club Harlequins as lineout coach". The42 . 9 June 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
2. Roberts, Gareth (22 March 2009). "2009 Six Nations". BBC Sport . Retrieved 23 March 2009.
3. Drabble, Joe (5 February 2008). "Flannery to appeal charge". Sky Sports. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
4. "Flannery Has Suspension Reduced". 6 February 2008. Archived from the original on 15 April 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
5. "Jerry Flannery cited over incident with Alexis Palisson". BBC Sport. 15 February 2010. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
6. "Ireland's Jerry Flannery to appeal against six-week ban". BBC Sport. 24 February 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
7. "Rugby World Cup 2011: Ireland hooker Jerry Flannery out of World Cup". BBC Sport. 14 September 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
8. "British & Irish Lions tour squad announced". British & Irish Lions. 21 April 2009. Archived from the original on 24 April 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
9. Thornley, Gerry (21 May 2009). "Flannery out of Lions tour". Irish Times. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
10. "Flannery Calls It Quits". Munster Rugby. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
11. "Master of his own destiny". irishexaminer.com. 22 March 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
12. "Munster legend Jerry Flannery lands Arsenal coaching role". independent.ie. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
13. "Foley's Backroom Team Confirmed". munsterrugby.ie. 20 May 2014. Archived from the original on 20 May 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
14. "Contract Extensions for Backroom Team". munsterrugby.ie. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
15. "Coaching Duo To Leave The Province". Munster Rugby. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
16. "Ex-Munster man Flannery handed permanent contract at Harlequins". The42 . 16 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
17. "Tackling sales - The Sunday Times". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
18. "Model agency boss sues ex-rugby star's pub over fall". independent.
19. Kinsella, Murray. "Flannery, Stringer and D'Arcy join eir Sport's panel for World Cup coverage". The42.
20. Jerry Flannery, ESPN Scrum, 5 July 2017

External links

• Munster Profile
• Ireland Profile