Denis Leamy: Munster must do Anthony Foley's memory justice

Leamy, who played in the same back row as Foley, said his former captain was 'hugely influential' on his game

Anthony Foley captained Munster to victory in the 2006 Heineken Cup final. Pic: ©INPHO/Billy Stickland

Denis Leamy wants Munster to do justice to Anthony Foley’s memory when they mark the 10th anniversary of his former teammate's passing at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh this Saturday. The defence coach has warned against getting too emotional, too soon before the province’s Champions Cup pool opener with Racing 92.

Foley was Munster’s head coach when he tragically passed away aged 42 on the eve of a European clash against the same opponents in Paris on October 16, 2016. The province will mark this Saturday’s contest on the corresponding weekend to honour their 2006 Heineken Cup-winning skipper with a number of tributes in remembrance of the former Ireland No.8’s contribution to his province as a player, captain and coach.

Leamy on Tuesday described Foley as very special person, a very special player and said of playing the day after the anniversary of his death this Saturday: “We've spoken about it briefly. I spoke about it this morning myself in my own presentation. I think that's going to be very much there. The players are very much aware of it.

“I think we can't get too emotional on a Tuesday. That would be wrong, but we're drip-feeding that in. I think there's loads from what I can see in terms of the match day schedule. There's loads of different things that are going to honour the Foley family and Axel in an appropriate way.

“For us, the biggest honour we can give him is to go out and perform and win the game and do our jersey and his memory justice.

“I think that's definitely to the forefront of the Munster players and the Munster squad and the Munster management at the moment.

"We don't want to use it too much as an emotional tool or go too far down that rabbit hole. We have to think about performance and how we get the best out of the 23 players we have.

"As I said, the result, and hopefully the win, will be a way of showing our care and our love for Axel."

Leamy, who played in the same back row as Foley, including the 2006 European final victory over Biarritz in Cardiff, described his former captain as “hugely influential on me around my game, around my mindset, in terms of how you developed and what you brought around the Munster jersey. He was the leader around that sort of thing.

“He was a fantastic player and I think his belief in a Munster jersey was unbelievable. He didn’t feel that in a Munster jersey we could be beaten. He was uncompromising, he gave belief to everyone that he was around him and he was just a super player, a super team-mate, he was a great leader and he was the one that lifted the European Cup on the first day that we won it.” 

Foley has been credited with helping to forge Munster Rugby’s identity, around players understanding who the team was representing and their connection with those who went before them. Leamy believes that remains vitally important to the current squad.

"They're well aware of what they represent. Everywhere they go, they're constantly reminded of that. They're constantly reminded in our building. I think a big thing in the HPC (High Performance Centre) over the last couple of years has been to make it a clubhouse feel.

"I think five or six years ago, you'd come in and the walls were bare. There was no memorabilia, there was no photographs, there was no display of what had been won or what had not been won.

"I think the players, as they walk into the building every day, they get a sense of the history of the place.

"That's there for them to see on a daily basis.

"What's also, we try to, as a management, we constantly try to drip-feed things in without overburdening them, without making it the big thing or over-egging it. A little bit of drip-feeding of history and heritage and what the jersey means, that's important.

"The game is ever-evolving, players are evolving.

"It's really important we never lose sight of where we've come from, but we have to stay going forward and creating our own bit of history and creating our own legacy for this group will be important."