I had been hoping to write a report on the great victories by Leinster, Connacht and Ulster in the first round of the European Champions Cup (ERCC) over the weekend but those wins have been overshadowed by the tragic death of Anthony ‘Axel’ Foley at the age of 42.
Foley, Munster’s head coach, had been in Paris for their game against Racing Metro, which was to take place on Sunday. The game has been postponed to a later date.
Foley’s former teammate, Ronan O’Gara, is kicking coach at Racing and had talked before about the great inspiration Foley had been to him and the other young players at Munster. Like everyone who knew Foley, he will be devastated after the great man’s passing.
Munster fans already over in Paris for the game laid wreaths at the Stade Yves de Manoir, the stadium where the game was meant to be played. They also sang moving renditions of the Fields Of Athenry, Munster rugby’s unofficial anthem.
Fans also laid wreaths at Munster’s home stadium of Thomond Park. It was an apt gesture as few players had helped put Munster on the European rugby map more than Anthony Foley.
The Foley name is synonymous with Munster rugby. Anthony’s father, Brendan, played on the famous team that beat the All Blacks in 1978 and Foley’s sister played rugby for Ireland.
As a schoolboy, Foley captained St Munchin’s to the Munster’s schools Senior Cup. He gained eight schoolboy caps for Ireland. One of his games was against New Zealand, where he faced off against a young Jeff Wilson.
He played his first game for his club, Shannon, in 1992, where they faced perennial rivals Young Munster. Shannon were one of the top clubs in the AIL (Irish club competition) during the ’90s (they won four trophies in that decade) and boasted such legendary players as Mick Galway, John Hayes, Alan Quinlan and Foley himself.
Foley went on to win his first cap for Munster in 1994 and featured in the club’s first Heineken Cup game, a win against Swansea, in 1996. In those days, the clubs in the AIL were the focal point, while the provinces were almost an afterthought. As the Heineken Cup grew in stature, the attention switched to the provinces.
Foley played his first match for Ireland in 1995 against England and he marked his debut with a try. He also appeared in that year’s World Cup. Rugby went professional in 1995, however, and Foley had admitted that he found the transition from amateur to professional player a difficult one to make.
He succeeded, though, and returned to the Irish team in 2000. He gained 62 Ireland caps overall and was part of Ireland’s Triple Crown-winning team in 2004. He retired from international rugby in 2005.
He was already a stalwart for Munster in 2000 when they played in their first Heineken Cup final, losing to Northampton, 9-8. There were an estimated 35,000 Munster supporters there that day. Munster had already gained a reputation for being the best-supported club in Europe.
Munster next featured in the 2002 HC final, again a loss, this time to Leicester.
Foley was a central character on Munster’s greatest ever day, when he led them to the Heineken Cup trophy in 2006 after beating Biarritz 23-19 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, the site of their 2002 loss to Leicester. Over 50,000 Munster fans were there to watch Foley lift the trophy.
Anthony Foley played in over 200 games for Munster and retired in 2008 after missing out on Munster’s Heineken Cup squad. Munster would go on to lift the trophy for a second time but the celebrations couldn’t match those of 2006!
Foley became Munster’s forwards coach in 2011 and was elevated to the role of head coach in 2014. Though Munster had suffered a lean period during his tenure, things were beginning to look up this season.
Foley leaves behind a wife and three children. The outpouring of grief has been acute from fans, former teammates and opponents, in Ireland and all around the world. Sportspeople and politicians from all over Ireland have been making tributes to the great man.
He’ll always be remembered as someone who encapsulated the spirit of Munster. Though the word is bandied around a lot, he deserves the accolade of legend.
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