Munster captain Peter O’Mahony paid a fitting tribute to former coach Anthony Foley on the Late Late Show on Friday.
Foley passed away in October 2016 while staying at a hotel in the Paris suburb of Suresnes before Munster’s Champions Cup match with Racing.
His death was a huge loss to both Munster and Irish Rugby but also to O’Mahony who said that he had a huge influence on him during his early days at the province.
Foley coached O’Mahony during his time at the Munster U20’s before they later linked up in the senior squad and the Ireland flanker said that Foley is still very much in the thoughts of those at the province.
'We think about him every day, not just on big occasions' – Peter O'Mahony on the memory of Anthony Foley pic.twitter.com/jER1KyUODb
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) November 23, 2018
“Axel has been a huge part of my career,” said O’Mahony.
“He was my first proper coach with the Munster U20s, it was his first coaching role. I just missed out on playing with him. The year he finished was my first developmental year so we just missed each other.
“He started coaching the Munster U20s as I started captaining Munster teams. That was the first Munster team that I captained. We’d an incredible relationship and obviously with us playing the same sort of position he had an incredible influence on my career. He had been with me through all the big parts, and the low parts of my career, and we think about him every day. Not just on big occasions.
“In Munster, there’s still a huge amount that we do that he would have driven, not just as a player, but as a coach as well, and that’s still there with us all the time.”
O’Mahony was awarded the man of the match award for Ireland’s 16-9 win over New Zealand last weekend and the Cork native said that the game was the best atmosphere he’s played in as a professional rugby player.
“I reckon it was probably the best atmosphere I’ve ever played in,” added O’Mahony.
“I remember we were getting on the bus and I was speaking to Johnny [Sexton] on the bus on the way to the captain’s run from the Shelbourne Hotel and there was probably 50 or 60 people waiting for us to get on the bus the day before the game.
“Normally, there is a tradition that people will watch us get on the bus the day of the game, this was the day before the game, and it was the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen the day of the game.
“When we got back it was even bigger again and it was after a few beers so they were fairly rowdy by that stage but it was incredible. An incredible occasion.”
