Reds veteran Foley glad to soldier on
On the back of recent form, the home and away wins over Llanelli especially, wins that took Munster to the top of the table in this intensely-competitive pool, expect Foley to make the final 22 on Friday, and then, expect him to make the starting 15.
For a while there it looked like he was gone. Out of the equation with Ireland for some time, Foley had also lost his Munster Heineken Cup place at number eight to Denis Leamy, a force of nature who looked destined for a long career at the back of the scrum. Just when the career obits were being prepared for Foley, however, a break: injury to the in-form blindside Alan Quinlan before the Llanelli games meant a return to that position for Leamy, and into the fray came the man from Killaloe.
What a game he had on that unforgettable night in south Wales, weather more severe than even Pat Falvey and his South Pole expedition could have been experiencing; man-of-the-match in a colossal forward display, he repeated that performance a week later in Thomond Park. Now, even with Quinlan back fighting fit and rearing to go, Foley has put himself right back in contention for a starting position. Happy to be back? You could say that.
“When you’re sitting on the bench, when you’re on the fringes after being a part of it for so long, it’s frustrating. The Heineken Cup weekend comes around, there’s a great buzz, you really want to a part of it. At the moment I’m enjoying being part of the squad again, getting a couple of runs is enjoyable. It’s hard to say this, but maybe at times I took it for granted, so when it’s taken away from you, you fight to get it back. When you do get it back then you appreciate it more.”
The irony this weekend is that while Foley got his most recent chance because of that injury to Alan Quinlan, each join Denis Leamy in the competition for just two places, six and eight, Leamy having performed out of his skin in his old position. There’s a rivalry there, definitely, but it’s a friendly rivalry; no-one respects Anthony Foley more than Quinlan. “Axel and myself have played together in the back row for many years, I probably know better than anyone else what he can do, what he brings to the party, and that’s immense. I have massive respect for the guy.
“He’s had a great run in the last few weeks and it’s a measure of the guy that he has slotted straight back in, played really well. That’s just the way it is, there’s fierce competition there. I’ll be trying to get back but I’ve never taken anything for granted; I never expect to go straight back into the team and while I was pleased with my form before the injury, if I can play any part at all on Sunday I’ll be delighted.”
Pride is what drove Anthony Foley to up his game, to regain his place — hurt pride, reckons Alan Quinlan. “Certainly it hurts, it hurts any of us if we’re out of the team, probably more so those of us who’ve been around a long time. I want to keep playing for Munster as long as I can, I love every minute of it — Axel is the same.”
In the continued absence of team captain Paul O’Connell, he could be crucial this Sunday, Foley. In tight games the referee can often be the difference between winning and losing, and Rob Debney of England did Munster no favours earlier this season in a Magner’s League game against the Dragons — no better man than Foley, however, to play the man in the middle. “Referees are studying teams, teams are studying referees,” explained Munster coach Declan Kidney, as shrewd an operator as there is; “He’s (Debney) a player the same as everyone else, he’ll have his strengths, he’ll have his weaknesses. You have to try and make sure you don’t impinge on his strengths, give away a lot of penalties; his weaknesses — he’s like any player, any other referee, you’d assume that if he wasn’t up to it he wouldn’t be given these matches.” Rest assured that Foley will have done his homework here.
On Clermont also, he will have been brushing up. The side Munster thrashed in Thomond Park will bear no relation to the side they meet on Sunday, wholesale changes in personnel being one factor, recent outstanding form being another. “We have a lot of respect for French opposition,” he says, “especially when they play at home. We know the first 10 or 15 minutes of this game will be 100 mile-an-hour stuff, everything is going to be thrown at us, it’s for us to try and counter that. Without a game last weekend (Munster’s Magner’s League clash with Ulster, Ravenhill snowbound), it’s important we get into this game as quickly as we can.” Even then, that may not be enough. Wasps did just that last time out against Clermont, looked like they were going to blow them away, then were almost caught by a second-half Clermont onslaught. Pedal to the metal all the way home, that’s the Foley advice. “Once you get into a situation you try to stabilise it, work on from there. Every game is different; what happened against Wasps won’t necessarily happen next Sunday. It’s just important that we get ourselves into good position and follow through with it, not try to drift through the game, not assume we’re gonna win, not assume we’re gonna lose. Just play every moment, keep building; it’s an 80-minute game, we want to be there at the finish.” Spoken like a true trooper.
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