Munster legend gives reason for departure from Province

Prior to Munster’s Champions Cup semi-final clash with Saracens earlier this year, it was announced that Jerry Flannery would leave his role in the coaching set-up after five years with the squad.

Flannery’s departure, along with that of backs coach Felix Jones, came as a surprise as Munster would go onto lose a third consecutive Champions Cup last-four tie.

Speaking on Joe.ie’s Ireland Unfiltered, Flannery gave some reasons as to why he left the province with his ‘gut feeling’ the prevailing one.

“You get a gut feeling and it just didn’t feel right for me.

I’ve great time for the people in there and I could give you some reasons why I did step away.

“Coaching is very, very demanding and it can be possibly be considered selfish at times because your family and your kids they have to sacrifice quite a lot.

If you look at Munster at the moment, the coaches that are there, Johann van Graan has travelled thousands of miles from South Africa.”

Munster is all Flannery knows having soldiered with the Province as a player for years before moving into a coaching position after he was forced to retire from injury.

Now Flannery will have the chance to move abroad to work, something which he feels he may be open to down the line.

“There probably won’t be an opportunity for me to go back into Munster and then that would be the case there where I have to sit with my partner and say, ‘Would you be open to the idea of maybe going abroad?

Maybe going to England or going to France?’ and weighing that up then.

“But at the moment I’ve been lucky enough that I could afford myself the opportunity to step out of the job with Munster.”

Whatever the future holds for Flannery, Munster will always be his home with the former hooker hoping the Province can push on from recent heartbreak in the Champions Cup towards success in the near future.

“If Munster can go on and win a European Cup next year and the following year then I’ll be delighted. It’s still the club I love.”

Watch the full interview with Flannery below, courtesy of Joe.ie.

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