Munster and Ulster unite for post-match beers beside Anthony Foley plaque

‘They’ve been through some tough times and we did it out of respect, and to honour Axel’

After Friday night's match in the Kingspan Stadium, a sizeable contingent of the Ulster squad and management visited the away dressing-room with a few crates of beer to share with their Munster opponents.

Earlier this week, Ulster had a plaque dedicated to Anthony Foley placed on the wall of the away dressing-room, a reciprocal gesture as Munster had done the same in the Thomond Park dressing-room in memory of Nevin Spence.

"We just made a commitment beforehand that whatever happened we'd do it," explained Les Kiss afterwards. "As you know we put the plaque up there for Axel and it was just a gesture to stand with them and have a beer and have chat."

“While it’s a battle out there and you go at each other, there are some things that are bigger and better than the game, and one of those things is that we go in there and respect that because they’ve been through some tough times and we did out of respect, and to honour Axel. It’s just a shame that the beer wasn’t as sweet as I would have liked it to have been.”

Gerry Thornley

Gerry Thornley

Gerry Thornley is Rugby Correspondent of The Irish Times