Flynn back in the old routine

Corey Flynn. Picture / Kenny Rodger

It hasn't taken Corey Flynn long to slip into rugby mode again.

We are not talking here about his work as hooker for the Crusaders but the verbal tactics many of the top players choose to use.

At the appointed time Flynn has answered the phone call somewhere in the Crusaders' offices. After the usual niceties we settle into a discussion about the last season of Super 12 and more specifically about the Crusaders' chances tomorrow at Eden Park against the Blues.

Surely, the suggestion is made, the Crusaders have had a better than usual start to this campaign and must be heavily fancied to break a twin-season sequence of defeats by the Blues.

Flynn breaks into the sort of rugby-speak which his coach Robbie Deans and others have turned into an artform.

The Crusaders had been well beaten by the Brumbies in the opening match which was also a replay of their 2004 final.

"We came back from that and were not that happy with the way we went against the Chiefs and then against the Reds, we were not happy with how that all went either," he said.

The Crusaders were good enough to score 50 points against both the Chiefs and Reds, totalled 15 tries and have got most of their top squad back into action after some pre-season injury woes.

Point that out to Flynn and there is only a mild concession about the side's form.

"I guess we have been traditionally known as slow starters and to win two out of three is okay as long as we keep improving before the bye round."

Flynn may be a southern man (born in Invercargill), someone taught to keep his own counsel, but he can be an ebullient customer. Maybe the number of injury setbacks he has endured during his short career have made him a little more cautious.

After all, it is a massive year for hookers like Flynn, tomorrow's opponent Keven Mealamu and Anton Oliver, who all went on the All Blacks end of year tour, and Andrew Hore.

After recovering from a broken arm, Flynn first tasted All Black selection as a bolter at the 2003 World Cup and while he only has three caps he is a huge talent.

The 24-year-old has the bulk and mobility to threaten at the highest level and has some serious time left in the game. He made his Super 12 debut against the Blues three years ago and his duel tomorrow with Mealamu will be one of many comparisons made by the All Black selectors.

While Flynn will not admit to it, it is easy to think he and his Crusaders' frontrow club took a special interest last week when they watched both Blues tighthead props suffer injuries against the Chiefs.

Flynn himself was damaged goods on the last All Blacks tour, almost the forward equivalent of Luke McAlister.

Flynn managed to come on as a substitute briefly against Italy, was picked for the final match against the Barbarians but withdrew because of a disobedient hamstring.

"I hadn't pushed it but I knew I had to try it out a few days before the game. I started to chase the doc and lunged and felt it pop," he recalled.

"I had done everything to try and get it right and it was a bugger to go all that way and not play. But sometimes rugby gives you cruel cards." 

Corey Flynn Born: January 15, 1981, Invercargill
Province: Canterbury
Matches: 28. Debut: 2001
Super 12 matches: 28
Debut: 2002
Tests: 3. Debut: 2003