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(L-R) Helleher, Herring and Heffernan were the men at the top of Andy Farrell's list early this year.

Battle for Ireland hooker spot 'wide open' -- Jerry Flannery

The new Harlequins forwards coach hopes to see a stand-out emerge after Rory Best’s exit last year.

OCTOBER FEELS AN awfully long time ago, but Ireland have only played three matches since Rory Best hung up his boots and left a vacancy as automatic starting hooker.

In his first runs as a head coach, Andy Farrell handed the number two jersey to Ulster’s Rob Herring while the up-and-coming talent of Ronan Kelleher was sprung from the bench. Best’s long-term understudy Sean Cronin was left out of Farrell’s Six Nations along with Munster’s Niall Scannell.

Flannery, whose time as a hooker included a Grand Slam with Ireland and two Heineken Cups with Munster and is now settling into a role as line-out coach with Harlequins, feels there is not yet one clear stand-out option to take over Best’s mantle long-term.

“The hooker slot at the moment with the national team is wide open,” said Flannery when asked about the credentials of Connacht’s Dave Heffernan after he was selected as the third hooker in Farrell’s squad for the Six Nations.

“Heffernan is a good player. He’s busy, he’s got a good work-rate – he plays bigger than he actually is. He’s a converted back row and I think his fundamentals around his throwing are pretty decent so I think it’s going to come down to form. 

“I don’t think there’s anyone there who has got a particular skill-set that marks them out ahead of anyone else, in terms of one player being a far better footballer or one player being far bigger.

“So, I think it’s up in the mix. I think Heffernan is definitely a guy who can contribute at that level. ”

Flannery reiterated the point when asked about the loss of Best to the international side, calling on one of the candidates to ‘own the jersey’ whenever rugby resumes.

“Ireland are in transition anyway coming from Joe Schmidt so you’re going to have someone who’s going to step in there and, I suppose, own the jersey and they’ll have to find what it is that makes them ‘undroppable’.

“They’ve got to have good fundamentals for their position and after that if you’re looking at what Andy Farrell wants from a team it’s generally guys who have got loads of energy on both sides of the ball and are aggressive and go after it. 

“So, the recipe is there for the players. It’s just about if they get a shot.”

Flannery is looking forward to getting his shot at coaching in the Premiership as he takes ownership of Quins’ line-out. In a way, he is following in the footsteps of perhaps Ireland’s finest ever hooker by pulling on the Harlequin and he fondly recollects when Keith Wood returned from his stint in England to represent Munster.

‘They played Munster in the European Cup (in 1997) and Quins came over and I just remember watching the game and seeing all the Munster players trying to get stuck into him.

“Obviously, when Woody came back to Munster then, I was training with the team at the time and it was pretty amazing to see a guy who went to the same school as me playing for the Lions.And he made playing sexy.”

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    Mute Jim Demps
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    Jul 21st 2020, 8:00 AM

    I don’t think it is wide open, put the time into Kelleher now even if he goes badly for a few games.

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    Mute TL55
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    Jul 21st 2020, 8:48 AM

    @Jim Demps: I would have said the same. However anytime I have heard Flannery analyse a situation I have been very impressed with him.

    Maybe he hasn’t seen enough of Kelleher or maybe from his experience and knowledge of the position he’s spotted a weakness or development need and hence the view that the position is very much up for grabs

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    Mute Chris Mc
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    Jul 21st 2020, 10:03 PM

    @Jim Demps: the best hooker in the country is cronin. Kelleher will have a job on his hands to get past him this season. I know full well he’s not one for the future but he’s still the best

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    Mute Stephen Rogan
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    Jul 21st 2020, 8:21 AM

    Kelleher is the man. The others are competent but not stand-out. There is great talent coming through in the academies, so, until they are ready, give Kelleher the #2 jersey.

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    Mute Joe O
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    Jul 21st 2020, 9:28 AM

    @Stephen Rogan: keep an eye out for Dan Sheehan. Just been promoted a year early to a senior contract at Leinster and will see lots of game time this season.

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    Mute Conor Pocock
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    Jul 21st 2020, 9:52 AM

    @Joe O: how long before he signs for Munster?

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    Mute #JUSTICE4NOEL
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    Jul 21st 2020, 12:02 PM

    @Conor Pocock: Dan Sheehan has been tearing up trees in the AIL and for Leinster A. Both he and Kelleher are serious operators.

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    Mute Decko49
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    Jul 21st 2020, 2:12 PM

    @Conor Pocock: Of course he will join Ireland’s more popular province

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    Mute #JUSTICE4NOEL
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    Jul 21st 2020, 2:25 PM

    @Decko49: Hes not from Johannesburg Decko so he wont be of interest to your lot

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    Mute David Finn
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    Jul 21st 2020, 9:50 AM

    My only problem with Kelleher is that he hasn’t been tested in adversity yet. Looked good in a dominant Leinster pack and team earlier this season. Scored lots of tries off close-in mauls. Now he certainly could be special, but we haven’t seen enough yet. Agree with Jim that he should start with Heffernan on the bench for the coming games. Neither Scannell nor Herring have what it takes.

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    Mute Oval Digest
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    Jul 21st 2020, 11:18 AM

    @David Finn: Scannell is 28 and Herring is 30. Both have shown they can step up to test level. Herring in particular can definitely do a job for us.

    Heffernan is 29. Good player but not sure why he ‘has what it takes’ when he has probably shown less than the other two, particularly at test/Euro level?

    (Or is it just because he’s from Connacht?!)

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    Mute Harry O'Callaghan
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    Jul 21st 2020, 4:00 PM

    @Oval Digest: Scannell & Herring haven’t proved anything at test level. They’ve both been bang average.

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    Mute Oval Digest
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    Jul 21st 2020, 4:29 PM

    @Harry O’Callaghan: They’ve both had good showings. Far more than Heffernan has.

    Neither are Keith Wood re-incarnate, but both are good enough to be second behind Kelleher for a few years while other evolve.

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    Mute Pretty Ladee
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    Jul 21st 2020, 11:23 AM

    Always rated Delahunt at Connacht as a quality player

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    Mute Oval Digest
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    Jul 21st 2020, 11:26 AM

    Plenty of quality coming through at hooker. DTM in Connacht, Stewart in Ulster, Barron in Munster and Kelleher/Sheahan in Leinster.

    We probably need Herring/Scannell to step up a bit to bridge the gap before these guys mature though.

    Scannell in particular has been a bit dissapointing. Looked like he could’ve taken Best’s starting spot a few years back but never kicked on really.

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    Mute William Joyce
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    Jul 21st 2020, 12:20 PM

    Heffernan by a country mile…!

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    Mute Sustainable Hedgehog
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    Jul 21st 2020, 7:16 PM

    For me Herring has done well so far and has been excellent for Ulster both in the Pro14 and in Europe. Kelleher looks like a fine prospect but he’s yet to prove himself at the top level. It’s a nice situation for Farrell to be able to play the proven hooker and bring the youngster off the bench to aid his development. If Kelleher does enough as a replacement to displace Herring all well and good. If he takes time to realise his potential he will get it off the bench. Those that are calling for the likes of Kelleher, Baird etc to be dropped straight into the international 15 without earning it are sending the wrong message to players. Potential is great but you can’t eat a potential apple.

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    Mute William Mills
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    Jul 21st 2020, 9:36 PM

    @Sustainable Hedgehog: best and most sensible comment on this thread so far Throwing a rookie into the cauldron of test match rugby especially in the middle of the front row ! Is a big ask regardless of how promising young kelleher is he needs to be eased in gradually and given time to develop another great young prospect is Stewart at Ulster one for the future

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    Mute Sustainable Hedgehog
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    Jul 22nd 2020, 5:10 PM

    @William Mills: Thanks William, I’m looking forward to seeing Stewart. I was at the Ulster A match with the Dragons in Ystrad Mynach last August/September and I think he was playing but I hadn’t heard of him then and I can’t find the line ups now.

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    Mute William Mills
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    Jul 25th 2020, 1:44 PM

    @Sustainable Hedgehog: Tom Stewart started that game Ulster won 43-31

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    Mute Justin Robinson
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    Jul 22nd 2020, 11:10 AM

    Herring was one of Ireland’s better players during the 6N.

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    Mute Ben Cooper
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    Jul 22nd 2020, 5:47 PM

    Whoever wrote the top photo caption clearly couldn’t resist a bit of ‘h for hooker’ alliteration

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