It’s the day after, and I am still coming to terms with the devastating news about Anthony Foley’s sudden passing in Paris. Sitting in Stansted waiting for a delayed flight I found myself scribbling down my thoughts and feelings trying to make sense of them. It got me thinking to how devastated his family must be feeling right now. To be taken so young in the prime of his life has saddened me to the core. Not to mind what they must be experiencing right now.
Tears keep welling up anytime I see or read about it and there is lots to read. The outpouring of grief by friend’s, teammates and fans has been all over the media. It’s hard to avoid. Having a few pints in the clubhouse on Sunday night with old teammates helped to come to terms with it a little bit. It seemed surreal to be dredging up and sharing memories of tours and matches so recently deposited in the memory bank. We all agreed it will be a long while before we come to terms with the vacuum left behind by his all too sudden departure. First and foremost though our thoughts and prayers must be with his wife Olive and their two sons as well as his father Brendan, his mother Sheila, sisters Rosie, and Orla, and his brother in law Pat and their extended family.
Captain, Teammate & Friend
Rugby has a buddy system when travelling to away fixtures. The team usually share twin rooms and the pack are split up by position number 1 shares with 3, 4 with 5, 6 with 7 and 2 with 8. So it was I ended up with Axel as my roommate when travelling to away matches with Shannon. Looking back now I wonder was it destiny. As a young 19 year old playing in my first senior match it was his father Brendan who was one of the senior players who on-boarded me to Shannon RFC in his own inimitable way.
As we ran onto the pitch he mentioned I was brought in to bring the average age of the pack down and bring a bit of mobility around the park. Brendan was a man of few words so you either caught on quickly or you didn’t hear from him again. I think I ran about 20K around the pitch that day trying to impress him! Similarly, I remember one night before an away match Axel tried to show me what this new PlayStation thing he brought with him was about; hoping to get me hooked. I never caught on. I was never asked to play PlayStation with him again. Like father like son!
Second to None
Having started playing rugby with Brendan I ended it in 1998 with Axel as my winning captain, teammate and good friend. I feel extremely lucky to have had the privilege of playing alongside someone as talented as the Foley’s were. My abiding memory of Axel as a player is his intelligence on the pitch. It was second to none, as was his innate ability to do the right thing at the right time – always.
He had two great teachers and mentors in his father Brendan and Niall O’Donovan, who was unfailing in his desire to pass everything he had learnt playing number 8 for Shannon and Munster on to the next generation. This is typical of the rugby fraternity. Anthony was like a sponge, soaking up the years of experience been passed on to him and then executing on the pitch what he had learnt. Execution is the harder part of strategy. It was his execution at critical pressure moments during a match that made him so brilliant.
A Natural Leader
From the front row I didn’t get to see too many of the try’s being scored as all too often he was running back to half way after scoring by the time we untangled ourselves from the front row of the scrum. I didn’t mind, I often said I was a donkey surrounded by racehorses in that pack which included no more than 7 blue-blooded internationals. So I reminded them that someone had to do the dirty work in order to make them look good!
I’ll never forget the sledging I got when after winning 3 in a row. The Munster squad was announced the next day with my 7 teammates all starting with a lone Garryowen man in the middle of the front row to keep them company. Thank god they couldn’t convince Woody to cross the Limerick divide or I would never have got the opportunities I did with Shannon. Pat Murray reminds me now and then about that day of Munster selection and how I would have to throw the ball into the line out and catch it myself next Tuesday night at training, as they would all be away with Munster!
Axel never forgot either. Although I wasn’t in the inner Munster circle he never differentiated between any of his Shannon teammates. The following years those natural leadership abilities were to the fore as he led us to a historic 4 in a row.
Humility in Leadership
What stood out for me was Axel’s humility as a player, a leader and a person. It was a characteristic trait that shone through effortlessly. I recently attended a talk, held by the Association of Coaching, from Matt Nixon about his book on his own experiences of ‘Coaching leaders for Humility not Hubris’. It was a topic I was keenly interested in given the scandal at the top of Irish Sport during the summer Olympics in Rio. The message Matt tell us is that leadership, reputation and legacy are intrinsically linked. If you have a problem with one you have a problem with the other. As a leader of men, Axel had no problem with any of these three characteristics. That was his measure.
I’d like to think we had one thing in common -stubbornness. He never gave up and neither did I. I don’t know who learnt that from who but it was certainly a trait of the team at the time. (I think they call it resilience now in management parlance). As long as there was a chance, we would never give up on trying to win. Jim Galvin’s last minute try in the 1992 cup final typified this never say die attitude in the Shannon team at the time. Vince Lombardi, a coach I greatly admire, probably said it best when describing the feeling of hard earned victory:-
I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious
Lesson Learned
There was one try I do remember vividly from our playing time together. In was in Thomond Park during a cup match. Our maul had got stopped a meter from the line and everyone poured in for the final heave. After rolling around to the back of the maul Axel was there controlling the push. We managed to get over the line and he gestured to me to touch the ball down. I was so surprised he had to roar at me ‘C’mon will you- What are you waiting for’? I went in and fell on the ball. As we were walking back to the half way he said to me ‘ that’s the handiest try you’ll ever get – next time I won’t wait’!! Lesson learned.
I wish now he could have waited a few more years on this earth. He will be sorely missed by all of our family. Both my sons had the privilege of being coached by him as part of the Munster and Shannon set up. His picture celebrating with the cup outside the dressing room with John Jr takes pride of place on our mantelpiece at home. John Jr happened to be wearing a Man Utd top at the time – (a perfect Axel combination). Attending his wedding to the beautiful and gracious Olive is another precious memory from those years.
RIP Axel. May you rest in Peace.
Johnny Deegan & family.
