Munster primed for Biarritz blitz

BACK in the early spring of 2001, Brian McGoey, a keen member of the Red Army and proprietor of a Limerick restaurant, promised to provide any member of the Munster team that scored three tries in a Heineken Cup tie with a lifetime supply of pizzas.

Anthony Foley thought this was too good a chance to miss and duly romped over for a hat-trick in the 38-29 quarter-final defeat of Biarritz Olympique at Thomond Park. McGoey was as good as his word and the victory remains one of the more memorable occasions in Munster’s march to the top of the European ladder, even then, though, it obviously pales when compared with the final win over Biarritz in 2006 at the Millennium Stadium.

However, Foley also appreciates Munster have also had their difficult times against Biarritz and he was captain of the side that went down 19-10 when the sides last met at the quarter-final in the Estadio Anoeta in San Sebastian in 2005. He is now the technical advisor with the Irish province and still hasn’t quite shaken off the memory of that defeat.