Australia driven by Rebel spirit as star man Bernard Foley reveals Munster heritage

If there is a secret to Bernard Foley’s miraculous displays at this World Cup then perhaps it’s this: The Australian fly-half’s family hails from Cork.

Foley revealed Wallaby head coach Michael Cheika has had his players researching their family trees in a bid to understand their heritage and why they want to represent their country. For Foley, born and bred in Sydney, that meant looking into the fact his family comes from “Munster territory”.

So if Ireland are knocked out by Argentina this weekend, then perhaps Australia’s playmaker will be the one to cheer on if they get past Scotland.

“It’s more of an identity about who you are and where you’ve come from,” said Foley, when asked how Cheika has built such a strong group during just a year in charge. “You look at places you’ve come from as a family, and where you and your parents grew up.

“It’s all linking back together and a good way of the team understanding each other and everyone’s pathway and where they’ve come through.

“My dad follows the family history very closely, and we definitely come from Cork or Munster territory.

“I’ve never actually been there. I think it’s our third or fourth generation in Australia, so a while back.”

That wasn’t the only revelation from Foley yesterday, either. Talking about the role his father, Michael, has played in his life, he discussed how they both ended up in the same hospital — hours after his dad had checked himself out after open-heart surgery.

“My dad had a leakage and needed open heart surgery at that time,” said Foley of an incident that happened when he was 14. “He’s been at virtually every game I’ve ever played and he coached me for a number of years.

“They wouldn’t let him out for the day but he made mum sneak him out of the hospital and he came to watch me play. During the game, I got a kick in the side. I didn’t think much of it, I was just a bit winded but then I started feeling pretty ill.

“Then when they were dropping dad back at the hospital afterwards, they said ‘why don’t you drop in as well and get checked out’. I gave a urine sample and it came out bright red.

“They did all the scans and they found I had a rupture in my kidney. I then had to spend 12 months out of non-contact sports and off the rugby pitch. It was pretty frightening at the time.”

How Australia are grateful that Foley survived and flourished. His form during the tournament, particularly when amassing 28 points against England, has been nothing short of remarkable.

Foley is keen to pass the credit onto the team, but his own tournament experience — particularly as part of the Australian Sevens side at the 2010 Commonwealth Games — is shining through. “Definitely very beneficial,” said Foley when asked how much Sevens had played in his development.

“For me, being a young guy going on the Sevens circuit, it’s a great introduction to professional rugby.

“To be a young bloke, to travel, to play in some of the colosseums of rugby and hone in on your basic skills — you need great skills in all facets of the game in Sevens or else you get found out — it’s been a really good learning experience for me and stood me in really good stead for where I am now,” he said.

“Post the Sevens, I got picked up by the Waratahs and played my first season in 2012, which was the year I played full-back for them but ever since Cheik came in 2013, I’ve been a fly-half.”

That led to the Wallaby No 10 shirt and a starring role at the World Cup. And he owes it all to Cork.