Momentum Is Building Says Flannery
Beating Sale Sharks at Thomond Park was only the first step for defending champions Munster according to Jerry Flannery, who was one of six try scorers in last weekend’s 37-14 win over the English side.
In typical Munster fashion, Jerry Flannery is taking nothing for granted and knows there is still a job to be done against Montauban at Stade de Sapiac in the sixth and final pool round this weekend.
Particularly as Montauban marked their Heineken Cup debut back in October with a mighty impressive performance in their 19-17 defeat at Thomond Park.
The champions’ six-try demolition of Sale, who had only conceded nine tries in 11 Guinness Premiership outings, guaranteed them a place in the last eight for the 11th season in-a-row, but a home quarter-final remains the ultimate goal.
Flannery insisted: “The job isn’t done yet. Beating Sale was all about getting some pride back in playing at Thomond Park.
“We are all very much aware this is only the first step and there is still another pool match to go but if we can get a result away in France this weekend then we will be where we want to be.
“A home draw in the quarter-finals means so much – it is massive. However, we went away and won last year, although with the recession on at the moment everyone wants to get a home quarter-final fixture for the fans.”
There was a record Munster home Heineken Cup pool attendance of 26,000 for last weekend’s match against Sale and Flannery said the players owed a good performance to the fans after their recent 37-11 defeat to Ulster in the Magners League.
“There has been a lot of emphasis put on the change of Thomond Park since it was redeveloped. But Thomond Park has been built on the performances of the Munster players,” added the Ireland hooker.
“There hasn’t been much change in the way the supporters back us, nor in the actual building. If anyone has been questioned it has been the players.
“We knew our performance against Ulster was completely unacceptable. We were embarrassed that day and we wanted to come back to serve up something better for our fans.
“However, the scoreline flattered us a little bit in the end. Sale are a lot better than they showed and they will be hurting after this defeat and I’m sure they will come back a better team in Europe next season.
“But we are looking to build on what we have done so far – we are still very ambitious. We have some great coaches here who are trying to bring on the younger players and develop them.
“That’s the exciting thing about being at Munster – you are always improving as a player. There is a lot of honesty about the squad, there is a good work ethic and it is a good place to be.”