Foley leaves behind a proud legacy

OUT WITH the old, in with the new; it’s one of the most basic laws of sport, cruel on the one hand, celebratory on the other.

On Saturday, lost amid all the euphoria, the curtain fell on one of the longest, most mutually bountiful and most mutually beneficial Munster careers of all time, but even as it did, a new career reached an early peak.

Anthony Foley was in Cardiff but he wasn’t on the match 22. He goes into retirement with a record 200-plus caps. Taking his place on the bench, Tipperary’s Donnacha Ryan, a guy with a very definite future in red.