NAN-S-5
Death
Paris, Oct. 16, 2016 (dpa/NAN) Munster rugby coach Anthony Foley has died overnight in Paris, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), said in a statement on Sunday.
Foley was in Paris with the rest of the team for Sunday’s European Champions Cup match against Racing 92. The game has been postponed at Munster’s request.
The statement did not give a reason for Foley’s death. The 42-year-old earned 62 international caps for Ireland and had been Munster coach since 2014.
“The IRFU and Munster Rugby pass on our deepest sympathies to all of Anthony’s family and friends and ask for privacy for the family at this sad time,’’ the IRFU said.
Foley, whose father Brendan also played for Ireland, made 201 appearances in the back row for Munster in a playing career that spanned 13 years.
He made his debut in 1995 against Swansea in the province’s first match in the Heineken Cup — a competition in which he would later captain his side to victory in 2006, having twice finished as runners-up (in 2000 and 2002).
He also captained Ireland three times in winning 62 caps, having made a try-scoring debut in the Five Nations defeat by England in January 1995.
He was replaced as Munster captain by Paul O’Connell for the 2007 to 2008 season, at the end of which he announced his retirement and joined their coaching staff.
Foley initially took over as Munster forwards coach in 2011 — a role he briefly undertook with Ireland during the 2012 Six Nations — before graduating to head coach in 2014 after the departure of Rob Penney.
Munster appointed South African Rassie Erasmus as the club’s Director of Rugby in July but Foley’s job title remained head coach. (dpa/NAN)
IAA/PDE
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(Edited by Isaac Aregbesola/Peter Ejiofor)