It’s been four months since Anthony Foley passed away.
The outpouring of tributes to the legendary rugby player after the news broke really summed up Axel as a person. A giant both on the field and off it, and his legacy will never be forgotten.
His unexpected passing hit everyone in the rugby community hard, particularly the Munster family who lost a coach, a provincial icon and one of their most respected and loved members.
Ronan O’Gara, who shared a pitch countless times with Axel, was set to go head-to-head with his friend as Racing Metro were due to welcome Munster to the Stade Yves-du-Manoir the day Foley died. He joined the Racing 92 players in wearing ‘Foley 8’ shirts at the rescheduled fixture to pay tribute to the man he won two two European Cups alongside, and on St Patrick’s Day he’ll mark his memory again.
RIP Axel https://t.co/yiCLgeSUx3
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) October 17, 2016
O’Gara will feature in a team of Ireland legends to face England in the RDS on March 17.
The eight edition of the annual exhibition match takes place on the eve of crunch Six Nations clash between Ireland and England at the Aviva Stadium. O’Gara will join the likes of Paul O’Connell and Gordon D’Arcy who are set to tog out for the match.
This time around, the friendly will have an added significance as it will be the first since Foley’s passing. although O’Gara isn’t known to play in too many legends games, he’s making an exception this time to play for Axel.
I see a little silhouette of a Legend… Guess who is joining us on March 17th?!! #playingforaxel pic.twitter.com/i0mBOaIDey
— Irish Rugby Legends (@RugbyLegendsIRE) February 19, 2017
Tickets for the match start at €10 and are available to buy on Ticketmaster.
