Anthony Foley: All about getting right player for Munster

Munster coach Anthony Foley last night insisted his hands have not been tied in pursuit of big money signings.

The manner of Saturday’s defeat to Saracens and exit from the European Champions Cup has prompted many to claim the province simply no longer has the financial might to secure world class players.

But Foley emphatically dismissed such suggestions and stressed his priority still remains about “getting the player we think is right for Munster rugby”.

“I don’t know where that story has come from,” said Foley of reports that monies were not being made available to chase marquee players.

“I’ve never had a conversation with Garrett (Fitzgerald Munster CEO) who said, ‘sorry, we can’t afford that’.

“When I tell Garrett the player I want, we do our best to get him.

“Some didn’t want to leave their home country. Some were still in contract. So it’s important to know that is not the issue. It’s about getting the player we think is right for Munster rugby.”

And he referenced some big name former signings to back up his argument.

He continued: “We go after players who can add value to our squad and are great for other fellas to learn from such as the likes of Dougie Howlett, John Langford, Jean de Villiers, Jim Williams and so on have been in the past.

“They left their footprint in the place. But we need more than that.”

Foley couldn’t hide the rawness which has taken hold within the camp since the weekend.

“It’s been a long few days. A very long few days. A very dark few days.

“We’re all gutted, shattered, whatever word you want to use. We need to deal with that ourselves.

“I’ve been through this, been through it as a player, been despondent as a player, been a part of it as a coach as well. It’s hard. People will question you. People will ask why it is happening because they don’t expect it.

“At the weekend they would have expected us to go and beat Saracens over there and then get five points against Sale this weekend, be on 19 points and get out of the group. But unfortunately the damage was done against Clermont in the home game. We’re all in this together. We’re not shying away from anything. We understand the position we are in. We take the good days and we also share the bad days.”

Foley still managed to take a positive from the week. Lessons learned by the younger players in particular will prove invaluable down their career paths.

He reasoned: “It’s not easy but it does motivate you to get to the better days. It drives you to make sure these days don’t come back again. When we lift trophies, those will be the moments we know we have earned it.

“We know the one thing about this group is there are a lot of young players and they will get a lot stronger from it. They are seeing a lot of real life stuff now in what people really think of them.

“We let ourselves down. We don’t need anybody telling us that. We’re all clued in enough to understand that and where we are. I also think the people that read the papers are the people that have supported us throughout our careers and have looked after us and they’re the ones probably getting the hurt out of that. If anything it will drive us Sunday to get a smile on the faces of people that really care about us. That will be the real motivation.”

Foley also pointed to the series of injuries which have rocked his squad over the course of his debut season as a mitigating factor in their early departure from the European stage.

Even the highly ranked New Zealand out-half/centre Tyler Blyendall was laid low before the campaign began although he is finally due in the province next weekend.

“We can’t expect to compete if we’re down 19 players and a lot of them internationals. You lose the competition for places, the impact off the bench.

“Nobody has used it as an excuse but out of a squad of 38 there will be ten unavailable this week-end and that’s a lot to deal with.”

Foley now faces the unenviable task of lifting a demoralised squad for Sunday’s visit of Sale Sharks to Thomond Park for a “dead rubber” European Cup game.

Injury continues to rear its ugly head with CJ Stander, an early retiree against Saracens, ruled out for four to six weeks with an ankle problem and doubts surround internationals Conor Murray and Simon Zebo.

“Simon and Conor are being assessed on an ongoing basis,” said Foley. “We’ll see what they are like tomorrow, whether they can train on Friday and if they can’t then unfortunately they will be out of the mix.

“Obviously, going into the Six Nations it’s an important period of time for them to be showing their fitness. When he was scoring the try against Zebre, Conor dipped into the number 16 and got a bang on the neck and there’s a disc problem there. We have to make sure it doesn’t go into spasm and that we’re working in the best interests of the player. Simon twisted an ankle and he’s the kind of guy you want out on the pitch with you as well.”