Stars ready to honour Foley’s legend

IT’S BEEN a while since he announced his retirement, and there’s still a lot of rugby to be played before Munster’s outstanding number eight Anthony Foley finally hangs up his boots, sails into the sunset, but already the tributes have started.

Yesterday at the new Hilton Hotel in Limerick, the details of the three-day testimonial events planned from May 27-29 were announced by Dr Roger Downer, President Emeritus of UL, chairman of the organising committee. Joining him were such Munster luminaries — past and present — as Brian O’Brien, Mick Galwey, Paul O’Connell, Shaun Payne and Marcus Horan; all were fulsome in their praise of Foley.

“I’ve been involved with Anthony for many years,” said O’Brien, who has served at every level of rugby, on and off the field. I think his father’s first game with Shannon was my last. Brendan acquitted himself with club, province and country equally as well as Anthony has done, Anthony carried on that tradition.

“His father was a giver, not a taker, Anthony is the same, and I’d like to see more of those in rugby; if it happens, rugby will stay healthy. Anthony is one of the nicest human beings I’ve ever met and consequently he became a great player. He always had this motto, ‘A day is lost if you don’t learn something.’

“Everything he ever did came from the heart; he was totally honest, he’s an example to any young player.”

Mick Galwey preceded Anthony Foley as Munster captain, but, says Gaillimh, Foley has now surpassed everyone. “This is a great opportunity to honour what I believe is Munster’s greatest ever player, now closing on 200 caps (he has 195 at the moment). What Anthony has done for Ireland, what he’s done for Munster, what he’s done for Shannon, what he’s done for Munchin’s, if you want to go back that far, has been fantastic.”

Paul O’Connell was the man who succeeded Foley as Munster captain; he gave first-hand knowledge of his positive influence: “In my first year with Munster (2000) we went to the European final, Gaillimh was captain, I was rooming with Anthony — a massive treat. Declan (Kidney, Munster coach) was very wary of young fellas being left to their own devices so we were always put with an experienced player, but very often Anthony was messing more than the young fella!

“That was his way of relaxing guys; he played under Gaillimh for so long, under Briano (O’Brien), under Niallo (O’Donovan), all those influences rubbed off. He was clever beyond his years in managing players, even when he was a player himself, he was brilliant to all of us.

“As young players, doing the basics was the first thing we wanted to do because that was what Anthony was brilliant at, that’s what he made his name at. I was looking at the video of the European Cup year and there was a try he scored where he chipped the winger, ran around him, picked up the ball again and scored in the corner. He could do things like that as well.”

Shaun Payne, a South African who ended up in Munster after serving a rugby apprenticeship worldwide, offered this testament. “There isn’t a sharper rugby brain out there. I have the good fortune — or the misfortune! — of travelling with him to Cork when we train there; often we’d have a chat, sometimes he’s not the most talkative. But if we go over a game we played the previous weekend, he’ll pick up moments that you’d never have noticed, he has incredible insight into the game. He’s the foundation Munster has been built on for the past 12 or 13 years, and Munster will be much poorer without him.’’.

For Marcus Horan, a recent memory stands out. “The game against Llanelli, the bad weather, over there in the Heineken Cup; we were against a strong wind, got a free kick in the middle of the field and he tapped and went. I was thinking, ‘What are you doing? You’re getting us killed, we’re in our own half!’; 30-odd phases later we still have the ball, and I think that’s what really killed Llanelli. That’s Anthony, the right decision, it lifted us so much, killed them off. I hope some of it rubs off on some of us that are left.”

The Anthony Foley Testimonial Golf Classic takes place May 27/28 at Dromoland Castle GC. ‘An Audience with Anthony Foley’ takes place at UL Arena on May 28. A Gala Banquet takes place at Hilton Hotel, Limerick on May 29. See www.ticketmaster.ie (telephone [phone]); www.munsterrugbysupporters.com and www.foleytestimonial.com.

* The two charities nominated by Anthony are the IRFU Charitable Trust, for injured players, and the Mid-Western Radiation Oncology Centre.