Anthony Foley

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Anthony Foley

Date of Birth:	30 October 1973
Place of Birth:	Limerick, Munster, Republic of Ireland
Height:	1.90 m / 6 feet 3 inches
Weight:	111 kg / 17 Stone 7 pounds
Position	Number 8
Country:	Ireland
Test Caps:	Ireland 62
Senior International Debut	21st January 1995 v England, Lansdowne Road, Jan. 1995
Test Points	Ireland 20 (4 tries)
School	St. Munchin's College Limerick
Club	Shannon
Province	Munster
Munster caps	166
Heineken Cup caps	77
Heineken Cup points	115 (23 tries)
Celtic League caps	48
Munster debut	v Edinburgh, Thomond Park, October 1994.
Heineken Cup debut	v Swansea, Thomond Park, Nov. 1995
Celtic League debut	August 2001

Anthony Foley (born on 30 October 1973) is an Irish rugby union footballer.

Anthony Foley made his debut for Ireland against England on 21 January 1995 and is one of few players from the amateur era still involved at international level. Anthony was dropped straight after this try scoring debut for Ireland and didn't figure in the Irish international set up for a while. He was part of the Shannon side that won 4 All-Ireland Leagues in a row for the Limerick club in the mid 1990s with Foley playing in all 48 games of this sequence.

It has been with his province, Munster, that he has had his greatest successes. He was part of the Munster side that won the Celtic League in 2002 and skippered the side to win the Celtic Cup in 2005, as well as appearing in 3 European Cup finals with the province. Munster have had an impressive record in the European Cup but didn't succeed in lifting the trophy until 2006 when Foley captained the side to victory over Biarritz (score 23-19) in the Heineken Cup final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on 20 May 2006.

Anthony Foley holds the record for most caps in the history of the European Cup with his present tally standing at 77. He is Munster's most capped player of all time (see box) and played in all but one of their 78 Heineken Cup games until a shoulder injury sustained during Munster's 21-19 victory over Leicester at Welford Road in their first game of the 2006-07 Heineken Cup caused him to miss his side's European subsequent victory over Bourgoin as well as back-to-back games against Cardiff in December 2006. New Munster captain Paul O'Connell described the loss of the former skipper as "huge".

He has won over 50 international caps for Ireland and has captained the side three times: in 2001 against Samoa, and in 2002 against Romania and Georgia. His last international so far was against Wales in the 2005 Six Nations. He has since lost his place in the Ireland team but continues to be an important part of the Munster team.

Foley is the son of Brendan Foley who was a lock in the celebrated Munster team that beat the All Blacks 12-0 in Thomond Park in 1978, and who was commemorated in the play Alone it Stands. His sister Rosie is a member of the [|Irish womens rugby union Squad].

Preceded by: Jim Williams	Munster captain -2006	Succeeded by: Paul O'Connell
Preceded by: Victor Costello	Ireland Number 8 -2006	Succeeded by: Denis Leamy