Munster eye fitting tribute to 'special' Foley in Racing reunion / Photo: DAVID DAVIES - AFP/File
Munster eye fitting tribute to 'special' Foley in Racing reunion
Irish province Munster host French club Racing 92 in the opening round of the Champions Cup on Saturday with the fixture falling almost exactly a decade on from the sudden passing of the home side's former No.8 and coach Anthony Foley.
Foley died in his sleep aged 42 on October 16, 2016 due to a heart rhythm disorder just hours before the two teams were set to meet in the tournament.
Foley spent more than two decades with Munster, winning the 2006 and 2008 Champions Cups.
"He was a very special person, a very special player," Munster defence coach Denis Leamy told reporters on Tuesday.
"It's tragic that he's not here anymore. We'll try and do our very best on Saturday to do justice to his memory," Leamy added.
Foley, nicknamed 'Axel' after Eddie Murphy's character in "Beverly Hills Cop", Axel Foley, retired from playing in 2008 and was appointed Munster's forwards coach three years later before taking over the main job in 2014.
The 62-time former Ireland back-rower had led the province to pool stage finishes in the Champions Cup during his first two campaigns at the helm.
For his third season, Munster were drawn in a group alongside Glasgow, Leicester and Racing 92, with a trip to the western Paris suburbs scheduled in round one.
The fixture at Stade Yves-du-Manoir was postponed following Foley's sudden passing.
- 'State of shock' -
"When you heard the news you just think of what the other team had to go through," former Racing back-rower Antonie Claassen told AFP this week.
"They just heard that their coach had passed away in such tragic circumstances, it was kind of a weird, strange feeling.
"One of the images that stayed with me is people just being in a state of shock," he added.
Foley's influence on Munster and the wider Irish rugby community is still felt, underlining the former Shannon man's affability and status as one of Irish rugby's greats.
A month after his passing, Ireland players formed into a figure of eight on the field before their victory over New Zealand and did so again before the 2023 Rugby World Cup loss to the All Blacks.
Leamy played alongside Foley for six seasons and under him for one year.
"He was hugely influential on me around my game and my mindset in terms of how you developed and what you brought in a Munster jersey," Leamy said.
"He was a leader around that sort of thing.
"He gave belief to everyone around him and he was just a super player and he was a super teammate," Leamy added.
The side from western Ireland and the Parisians have met seven times since then, including the emotionally charged re-arranged fixture and return match in January 2017.
On Saturday, Munster's current squad, including captain Tadhg Beirne, will wear commemorative warm-up jackets and the forward will exchange jerseys bearing Foley's number eight with a Racing 92 player.
A round of applause in the eighth minute of the game in Cork is also planned.
"Some of his quotes and some of his actions are still spoken about to this day," Beirne said.
"That probably just is a testament to the man he was.
"We live by some of the words he's spoken every day, so he's with us all the time and I don't think it's going to be any different this weekend.
"We're paying tribute to a true Munster man, and rightly so," Beirne added.
M.Banerjee--MT
