Anthony Foley
Rugby player and coach
BORN OCTOBER 30, 1973 DIED OCTOBER 16, 2016, AGED 42
ANTHONY Foley will be remembered as a Munster legend and one of the great figures of Irish sport in the modern era.
He made his debut for Ireland in 1995 and went on to win 62 caps in his 10-year international playing career, captaining his country three times and scoring five tries. His achievements with Munster, where he was lauded as a hero, were no less impressive.
He played 202 times in the back row, from 1995 to 2008, and was captain when the province became European champions for the first time in 2006 after years of heartbreak in top-flight competition. He was also a member of the Munster team that won the 2002-03 Celtic League.
After retiring from playing in 2008 he took up coaching and in 2014 was named Munster’s head coach.
Born in Limerick, Foley came from a rugby family: his father Brendan was an Irish international as was his sister Rosie. He began playing with Shannon in his youth before turning professional in his early 20s. Not long after his 21st birthday he made a try-scoring international debut against England in the 1995 Five Nations and was selected for Ireland’s World Cup squad.
His Munster bow came the following November in the Irish province’s first-ever Heineken Cup fixture against Swansea and from then on teammates and fans lovingly referred to him as “Axel” after an Eddie Murphy film character.
Since his sudden death, which was due to a heart condition that led to a build-up of fluid in his lungs, Foley has been described as a man who represented everything that is great about rugby.
Yet he himself once said: “If I’m going to be remembered I’d like to be seen as a stubborn player, somebody who wouldn’t give in.”
He is survived by his wife Olive, two sons, parents and sister.