Foley powers into Lions contention with colossal performance
As Ospreys coach Lyn Jones drooled at the positive impact made by the Munster number eight, counterpart Alan Gaffney had a huge smile on his face as he recalled Foley's "soccer" skills that led to a crucial second try.
In his 65th Heineken Cup game for Munster, Foley was the most influential figure in this success, though remarkably didn't win the Man of the Match award.
"I think I'll stick to rugby at this stage," Foley joked afterwards when quizzed on his soccer talents which lead to Christian Cullen's try.
"When I chipped that ball through I would have been happy to force a lineout a few yards out. I didn't have any real options by passing inside and I felt that they were under pressure to get back. Had one of their defenders forced the ball over the touchline I'd have been OK with that.
"But Christian (Cullen) came galloping through and showed great skills to pick up and slither through for the try. That was really a bonus I didn't expect. Cully deserves most of the credit for the score," said Foley.
The giant Clareman apart, Gaffney also had words of praise for the entire Munster defence.
"Funnily enough, last season I thought our defence was right as well. Then, suddenly we collapsed a bit in our last two games and conceded nine tries. That was disappointing but I reckon we're back on track now.
"Graham Steadman is working hard with the players. The boys love working with him. He's a very intelligent coach and can read what other teams are likely to do very well."
A trip to London and a meeting with Harlequins are next on the Munster horizon. Gaffney dismissed talk of a rout after the Londoner's crushing defeat in France.
"We have got to get the process right. We have to think about winning the game. Bonus points won't come into our thinking because we've got to worry about winning the match first. If we don't do that then we could be out of the competition."
Neath-Swansea Ospreys centre Gavin Henson claimed his side were the "better team" despite the 10-point defeat. Lyn Jones' visitors had plenty of possession but could not convert it into points.
"It's so frustrating we felt we were the better team," said Henson.
"We played the more rugby in the game and I think we proved were the better team. We just didn't take our chances in the second-half, and I fluffed a few myself. Munster had their spell of 10 to 15 minutes at the end of the first-half, and that was the winning of the game but we're very disappointed to be out."
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