A Sit Down With Brendan Foley

In 1973, Munster played their one and only fixture against Argentina. That match, which took place at Thomond Park and featured last year’s Munster Branch President, Brendan Foley, finished in a 12-12 draw with Barry McGann notching four penalties for Munster. Below are some of his memories from the game 52 years ago.

Playing in 1973 and the run up to the fixture

“As a player you always look for the chance to play a touring side, you knew it was coming up all season and hope that you’d get picked to play. There were only a couple of matches a year back then so any time you got the chance to wear the red jersey you would be very happy.”

“The game was on a Tuesday, a working day. That was normal back then, it was the same when I did tours with Ireland. In those days you played two matches a week, either on the Tuesday or the Wednesday, and then again on Saturday.

“Touring teams would play mid-week, and they might get a break coming up to the internationals but not always. Ireland played Argentina the following Saturday after our game. We had a few guys on the day that would have played in both of those games that week. Argentina would have been in the same boat, because back then they only had 26 players for both the mid-week and Saturday matches.”

“My son, Axel, was actually overdue by two weeks, and when Sheila went to the gynaecologist on the Friday, he said if the baby doesn’t arrive by Sunday, you’re going to have to come in because we can’t have Brendan up all night before the game! He was actually born the day before the game in the end.”

Impressions of Argentina

“It didn’t take long to get a few impressions because Seamus Dennison got lots of high tackles on him, and he went down several times in that game. He nearly lost his head! In fact, the media after the game said that if Argentina were going to continue playing the way they did against Munster, then they would be better off staying at home. But thankfully they improved, and they seemed ok for the rest of their tour, and I don’t remember any major incidents.

“We did get to meet the Argentinian players, there was a pre-match dinner where you sit down, and every second player would be a Munsterman or an Argentinian. A lot of them didn’t have very good English, so that made communication a bit difficult!”

The match itself

“The weather was ok and there was a fine crowd at the old Thomond Park, people looked forward to seeing visiting teams.

“It was a game we were looking forward to and very different for us to be playing against a different country. Going out against a touring team you always get that lift. It was the first time I had played against a team from overseas. Up to that point it was just Australia and New Zealand that would have been touring Ireland.

“It was a draw in the end but a very nasty match. A couple of our guys had been on the tour to Argentina a few years before, in 1970, and there was a bit of agro, so that followed through to the game.

“It was Dick Spring’s first match for Munster at full-back and Seamus Dennison gave a memorable performance, as well as Phil O’Callaghan. It was a tough game, and we were disappointed not to win. We missed a few kicks at goal. But for a kicker even back then it wasn’t quite as easy as it is now! It was a leather ball which was tough, it’s much heavier than the current ball.”

Thoughts for our current Munster players ahead of playing Argentina this weekend

“They are going well this season, and I hope that it continues for them. They’ll be looking forward to playing a touring side, you don’t get the chance very often.

“With injuries and lads off on international duty I am looking forward to seeing some of the younger players getting involved. There is great competition for positions too at the moment.”

Munster: D.Spring; P.Pratt, P.Parfrey, S.Dennison, P.Lavery; B.Mc Gann (capt.), D.Canniffe; J.Buckley, T.Moore, S.Deering; M.Keane, B.Foley; J.Me Loughlin, P.Wheland, P.O’Callaghan.