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Remembering Anthony Foley

Anthony Foley

James Harrington pays tribute to the late Munster coach and former Ireland international who died on Sunday.

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The first round of European Champions Cup matches were overshadowed by the sudden and cruelly sad death of Munster’s head coach Anthony Foley.

He was found on Sunday morning in the Paris hotel where the team were staying, hours before the Irish province was due to face Racing 92. He was 42.

The match that afternoon was rightly called off, but still Munster fans gathered outside Racing’s Stade Yves du Manoir and paid tribute to Foley – known affectionately as Axel – in the best way they knew. The only way that was truly fitting.

The Fields of Athenry, the traditional Irish song appropriated by Munster, rang out, not in victory or to spur their heroes on as it had so many times before, but to honour one of the favourite and most devoted sons of Munster and to grieve at his desperately sad passing.

Rugby is a passion in southwest Ireland. Anthony Foley – a decent hurling player who as a boy practised the GAA game in the street alongside Keith Wood, a friend who would also become a Munster and Ireland legend – had rugby in his DNA.

His father, Brendan, won 11 caps for Ireland and was a member of the Munster side that famously beat the All Blacks in 1978. His sister, Rosie, has also donned the green jersey.

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But Foley, a legend in the back row of the Munster scrum when it was a force to be feared, surpassed them. The bare facts are this: he won 62 caps for Ireland in a test career that spanned a decade and started with a try-scoring debut against England in the 1995 Five Nations. He played in the 1995 and 2003 World Cups, and captained his country three times.

Between 2000, when the Six Nations was born, and his retirement in 2005, Foley played in 28 of Ireland’s 29 games in the tournament. They won 21 of those.

Munster CEO Garrett Fitzgerald described Foley as “the embodiment of Munster rugby.” He won 202 caps for his beloved province between November 1995 and his retirement in 2008, making his debut in the club’s first European fixture against Swansea and playing in 77 of their first 78 European matches.

Foley was more than just a part of the great Munster rugby sides of the first decade of the 21st century. In a team that at one time or another included Mick Galwey, Paul O’Connell, Peter Clohessy, Peter Stringer and Ronan O’Gara, he was a natural-born leader.

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He was part of the squad that lost in the finals of the 2000 and 2002 competitions, before leading them as captain to their long-awaited Heineken Cup triumph at the Millennium Stadium in 2006. In total, he played in 86 European matches and scored 23 tries.

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There’s no wonder, then, that when pay-TV broadcaster Sky Sports marked the 15th anniversary of the Heineken Cup, the long-running predecessor to the current tournament, Foley was named at number eight in the competition’s all-time XV.

He moved into coaching on his retirement and, frankly, there was only one place he would go. He started coaching the forwards before moving through the ranks to become head coach in 2014.

Those are the facts. Impressive though they are, they do not speak of the best of the man, the coach, the player. Broadcaster Nick Mullins described him as “someone you felt you knew them even if you didn’t, because they spoke and played with their heart.”

It was left to fellow former Ireland star Tyrone Howe – who had started the day thinking he would be on rugby punditry duty – to pay tribute to Foley on live TV, having just heard the devastating news. His emotion is palpable.

RIP Anthony Foley.

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 3 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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