Munster's main man

With three interprovincial titles already under his belt, tomorrow Anthony Foley and his Munster team-mates take to uncharted and historic waters in a European Cup quarter-final.

Next week Foley and Shannon resume their pursuit of a historic five All-Ireland League titles in a row. Still only 25, Foley is well on the way to becoming a bit of a legend in his career.

At club and provincial level Foley has been one of the great, if largely unsung, achievers. After Munster's emphatic win over Leinster in the interprovincial decider, when their first half-hour performance provided the benchmark for the championship, it was the likes of man-of-the-match Alan Quinlan and the skilful Barry Everitt who caught the eye and the garlands. But for some of the Leinster players, there was no doubt that Foley had been the main man. It was Foley who had called the shots, directed the traffic, taken all the right options.

At Shannon, Niall O'Donovan says much the same thing. While Quinlan and Eddie Halvey usually make the big yardage and are the most demonstrative (indeed, the comparatively quiet and unflustered Foley would be entitled to wear ear plugs), O'Donovan points out that it was usually Foley who did the unseen work - blowing away tacklers to clear the ball, or drawing the man and delivering the well-timed pass - which gave his more dynamic back-row colleagues the space to rumble.

Aside from his footballing brain and ability on a football pitch, Foley has a massive heart. That was evident from the first sightings of him in the St Munchin's team which he led spiritually and every other way to the Munster Schools Cup final.

Given he's the son of another Shannon legend with a big heart, Brendan Foley, it seems hardly credible that he would have played anything else. But the way Foley junior tells it, he was much more a GAA man until taking up rugby "semi-seriously" at under-13s in St Munchin's, and finally converted entirely at about 16.

"I played intermediate for the parish (Killaloe) and generally played a lot of GAA until 15 or 16. Sixteen was the crunch year when we had to choose which way to go. Schools rugby starts becoming more serious then, training three times a week and a match every week."

The rationale, if it's to be believed, was quite prescient. "I thought, it's a sport you can go places in. You can see the world. And now you can have a job with it. I felt that I'd be better off putting all my eggs in one basket, and it's worked out that way."

As a youngster he watched his father play for Ireland (11 times between 1976 and 1981) and dreamt that one day he would too, "and that option doesn't come up in hurling".

Ironically, the current Munster coach, Declan Kidney, was the Presentation coach when PBC Cork beat St Munchin's in the Munster Schools final in 1992. "He keeps reminding me," chuckles Foley, not that he'd need much reminding. "We blew it that day.

"It goes down as one of my most disappointing memories, I would say. That and the defeat at schoolboys to New Zealand in the last couple of minutes. They're the two that you kind of cringe and think, `Ah man, what could have been'."

At 18, he broke into the Shannon team in his first year out of school, and he hasn't missed a match since his debut as a replacement against Young Munster in 1993, making him an ever-present in their four-in-a-row side. Concluding back-to-back wins over Garryowen and Dungannon staved off relegation in the first year, and there was more escapology the next season - perhaps formative influences on the current success-hungry team. "Once you've been down there, you know what it's like, and it's not a pretty way."

Representative honours followed steadily, first with the Irish under-21s and then breaking into the Munster team in 1994 just before his 21st birthday. "Three interpros. Not bad," he says, of the '95, '96 and '98 champions, with that self-satisfaction he delights in. Today's back-row is the same as the first - "The '95 vintage, the good stuff."

He marked his inevitable Irish debut that year with a try against England, but concedes: "It's a big step up to get results at the international stage. I think I've only two or three victories under my belt. I dunno how to explain it. We've come close on a few occasions, a few good performances, but at the end of the day it's the smaller things that make it at international level.

"You just don't get away with things as much as at interpro or club level - such as lack of concentration, or if you're indecisive you get hammered. You need to be focused and do everything as accurately as possible."

Like most Irish players, he's been through the international mill. Since losing his place in the 1995 World Cup, he's had only two starting appearances, against Australia and Italy two seasons ago.

He won the last of his nine caps as a replacement for Eric Miller against England that season, and his future international prospects looked bleak after a poor Development tour to New Zealand two summers ago. "I tend to try and forget about that tour. That was an awful trip. I think we trained too hard and didn't enjoy it. It just didn't happen. Looking back on it sends a shiver down the spine."

He probably had no hope of convincing the Ashton-Whelan ticket of his credentials thereafter - "When a coach sets his mind on you it's very hard to change him." - and even Warren Gatland needed some convincing. But at least it was a chance, and his consistency for Shannon forced his way in late on for the South African trip, where he even captained the midweek side twice, scoring both times. The difference between the two Anthony Foleys of those two summers was striking.

You sense that Gatland still has more faith in Foley than many others have. The Irish coach singled out Foley for his huge work-rate in the Combined Provinces' generally harrowing night against the Springbok dirt-trackers last Tuesday week. While Foley was pulling off the tackles, covering everywhere and even taking the Boks on, he wasn't exactly spoilt for support.

In the final quarter, he spotted that for once the Boks' guard was down when they conceded a penalty near the Provinces' line. Typically, he tapped and went, carving through the green jerseys for about 30 metres before being hauled down. The nearest support was about 10 yards away.

With the current welter of dynamic back-rowers about - aside from Munster's legion there's Miller, O'Cuinneagain, Costello and Ward - Foley has been pretty much discounted in that regard. Even after a creditable effort against the Boks, his detractors would maintain that Foley lacks that bit of pace.

But again, it's worth remembering that he's still only 25; most players peak around 27. His fitness programme over the next three years or so will be vital in creating that explosive power and speed he'll need against the top international players.

He thrives, though, on the big games like tomorrow's. After making a persuasive argument as to why Munster can upset the formbook with a clear game plan based around ball retention, he maintains, "We've got the manpower to do it".

A European semi-final would make another nice, and novel, entry on his CV. "My main ambition is to get back into the World Cup squad and play at the highest level a player can play. The five-in-a-row is also something that's never been done.

"It's been said to us that no team in Irish sport has ever won five All-Irelands. Kerry were beaten in the last minute, Cork and Wexford teams and whatever. It would be nice to achieve that, but it's a long way off. And also the semi-final of the European Cup."