Jeremiah Paul "Jerry" Flannery (born 17 October 1978) is an
Irish rugby union player who plays at
hooker for
Munster and
Ireland.
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 (late) 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 obvious 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 has also missed much of the 2010/11...
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