Anthony Foley

Anthony ("Axel") Foley (born on 30 October 1973) is a retired Irish rugby union footballer and was educated at St Munchin's College in Limerick.

Anthony Foley made his debut for Ireland against England on 21 January 1995 and was dropped straight after this try scoring debut for Ireland and didn't figure in the Irish international set up for a while. He was part of the Shannon side that won 4 All-Ireland Leagues in a row for the Limerick club in the mid 1990s with Foley playing in all 48 games of this sequence.

It has been with his province, Munster, that he has had his greatest successes. He was part of the Munster side that won the Celtic League in 2002 and skippered the side to win the Celtic Cup in 2005, as well as appearing in 3 European Cup finals with the province. Munster have had an impressive record in the European Cup but didn't succeed in lifting the trophy until 2006 when Foley captained the side to victory over Biarritz (score 23-19) in the Heineken Cup final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on 20 May 2006.

Anthony Foley holds the record for most caps in the history of the European Cup with his present tally standing at 86 (incl 5 sub). He has scored the most Heineken Cup tries by a forward (23). He was Munster's most capped player of all time (see box) and had played in all but one of their first 78 Heineken Cup games until a shoulder injury sustained during Munster's 21-19 victory over Leicester at Welford Road in their first game of the 2006-07 Heineken Cup caused him to miss his side's European subsequent victory over Bourgoin as well as back-to-back games against Cardiff in December 2006. His 38 tries for Munster is only one behind Anthony Horgans all time record of 39. New Munster captain Paul O'Connell described the loss of the former skipper as "huge".

He has won over 50 international caps for Ireland and has captained the side three times: in 2001 against Samoa, and in 2002 against Romania and Georgia. His last international so far was against Wales in the 2005 Six Nations. In 2008 he retired from the game, but still plays a part in the Munster set-up. Foley is the son of Brendan Foley who was a lock in the celebrated Munster team that beat the All Blacks 12-0 in Thomond Park in 1978, and who was commemorated in the play Alone it Stands. His sister Rosie is a member of the Irish womens rugby union Squad.

References

External links

• Munster profile