Flanker reflects on Anthony Foley’s influence after team secure 33-25 win over Racing 92 in Cork

For Jack O’Donoghue – the one Munster player who was both in the squad due to face Racing 92 a decade and a day ago in Paris as well as the matchday 23 against the same opponents in Cork – paying homage to his former coach made for a particularly emotional night and, indeed, week.

His overriding emotion was “a lot of pride” after Munster’s 33-25 win over Racing 92 in Páirc Uí Chaoimh: “I’m really proud of the performance that we put in to get the result. It was a tough, tough week, with the emotions, to try to keep them down and to focus on your job and to put down a performance like we did.

“I think to come away with the four points is huge and exactly what we wanted to do and exactly what we set out at the start of the week to do.”

Anthony Foley’s wife, Olive, presented the jerseys to the players at their captain’s run in Thomond Park on Friday and reflecting on this, O’Donoghue said: “It was incredibly powerful. She’s an incredibly powerful woman, and she speaks a lot about belief and belief in God and how that has helped her.

“She’s someone I’ve actually stayed in touch with since Axel passing, and it was just great to see her and to show how strong of a woman she is. To be able to stand in front of us 10 years on and to present us with our jerseys, it meant a hell of a lot.

“And to show the strength that she has, it just filled me with massive strength as well, that you know you could go out and face anyone, the way she spoke in the dressing room before our captain’s run.”

As they had done after beating Glasgow in Thomond Park a day after Foley’s funeral in Killaloe, the entire squad and management formed a circle in the middle of the pitch to sing their valedictory dressing-room anthem, Stand Up and Fight.

“For me personally, it was very emotional,” said O’Donoghue. “I stood in that circle 10 years ago as a young fellah just coming through. I was asked after the game what Axel meant to me. You know, he gave me my first opportunity; he put time and effort into me, sitting down with me as an academy player watching videos, watching training and teaching me the little intricate bits of the game.

“To be 10 years on and to still be in that circle, it was very emotional for me because it means a hell of a lot to me.

“It means a hell of a lot to still be in this group and to still be playing and putting in a result and getting a result like that, it meant a lot.”

Munster head coach Clayton McMillan commented: “I didn’t personally know the man, but you actually feel like you know him through the constant mentioning and presence of his name. That’s been really good for me and the other guys that are not necessarily from Munster but want to understand him and the legacy of Munster.

“I thought the players managed the week really well.

“We had some disruptions. We had one day in at UL, a normal training base. They had a big [EU] function there with a whole lot of dignitaries. We weren’t able to go to our own base. We adapted. We changed up the week.

“That, along with everything going on with the memorial around Axel meant it was a different week, but I thought they showed a huge amount of professionalism and just kept their emotions in check.”

Man of the match Craig Casey was in his Leaving Certificate year at Ardscoil Rís when Foley died in 2016. A Shannon player like Foley, he also had the distinction of scoring the final try.

“I was on the East Terrace the week after he died, I couldn’t have been prouder of Munster that day.

“You want to be part of that, how well we rallied around everyone that week and I was only in sixth year, but it drove me to want to be a part of the club.

“It’s a special week, he’s a special man. His legacy will be with every Munster team from here until the very end of time.

“We talk about him constantly, we wrap up every game with ‘Axel’. His family is very special to us, thankfully we honoured him with a win today.”