Anthony "Axel" Foley and Rosie Foley both play rugby for Munster andShannon, and Anthony plays No 8 for Ireland. They are both married and livewithin a mile of their family home in Killaloe, Co Clare, where theirfather, Brendan Foley, who also played for Ireland, runs a mini-coach hire service.
Because women's rugby is still accorded amateur status, Rosie is also a secondary school teacher in Croom; her brother made his Munster début in 1995, the year the game went professional, so it's both his passion and his day job. He has played more than 130 times for Munster and holds the record (64) for the most Heineken Cup appearances. Rosie has about 20 caps for Ireland. Axel is seen as a quiet, unassuming fellow but a superbly intelligent footballer, both for Ireland and Munster. Brian Hickey, assistant coach for Munster said of him: "I don't think it's right to use the term 'irreplaceable' for players but when he goes, I think I'll apply it." They have a younger sister, Orla, a physiotherapist who is spending three months travelling, currently in Brazil
ANTHONY
We grew up playing every sport possible - swimming, cycling, water sports on the lake. Rosie always had the bragging rights: she was the better swimmer. I played hurling and soccer and Rosie played camogie and Gaelic. We watched Dad play rugby and always went to all the games. Mum would have been out there as well. She used to play camogie for Ahane. So I guess you could say we grew up in a sporting environment.
Rosie, being the older sister, looked after the rest of us. She went to boarding school and I guess we moved in different circles there for a while. One memory I have of growing up is how much she loved boarding school. How she couldn't wait to get back there every Sunday. I'm joking. She has been unlucky with injuries and once wrecked her knee-cap playing Gaelic in front of her boyfriend.
Obviously, I was fortunate enough to come into the game when it turned professional. For Rosie, it's like the old days. Women's rugby is still at amateur level so they have to do a lot of fund-raising and so on. Aggression-wise, they are very committed and the amateur status is the only thing holding them back. It's growing the whole time, there are more teams out there and it's getting a lot of support. Rosie is usually playing every weekend so we miss each other's matches. Yes, a few of us [from Munster] have gone out a couple of times to give them a hand, but no one makes a big deal of it.
The support in Munster is massive for the game. The fans are the best. Nowhere compares to Thomond Park. When we play away, they love seeing us coming because they know the atmosphere will be tremendous. No, it's not hard for mothers to watch! We're the best looked-after professional players in the northern hemisphere. The IRFU has it really well structured with the 10-week pre-season and we're well looked after in Munster. I'm feeling fine; we get plenty of recovery time. My parents travel to all the games; my mother loves the foreign trips.
We're pretty close-knit and life is good. Killaloe is a great place to live. There is a lot of building going on but it's still a great old spot. Nice and quiet. You appreciate it every time you come home. We see a lot of each other. We have a younger sister Orla, who is a physiotherapist, and we get running repairs off her. She enjoys it - inflicting pain on others. We do it in our way and she does it in hers.
Rosie's the one we leave to do the PR for us. She's well-spoken and that. I don't know where she gets it from. As for that hole-in-one she told you about, all I can say is lightning doesn't strike twice. In conversation with Patsey Murphy
ROSIE
I was born on October 27th and Anthony was born a year later on October 30th, so that's about as close as you can be without being twins. It was great to be older; I could beat him up until he was about 12.
Anthony is a gas ticket. He loves his rugby; it's not only what he does for a living but he really has a passion for it. He knows he is fortunate to do what he loves to do and never takes anything for granted. It's never a chore, and he knows he's got great friends and great times out of it. Even in bad times, the support is always there. It's going right at the moment, and he works very hard at it.
He is a big Man U fan, although he gets flak for that in some quarters, and his other big passion is for golf. One of my favourite stories goes back to a pitch-and-putt competition years ago with my father, Woodie, Anthony and myself, when I had a handicap of around 30 and I got a hole-in-one. They couldn't believe it. "Have a look in the hole!" they kept saying. They went to pieces. Their games went out the window. It was great to beat the lads. As we all know, in front of every good man there is a good woman.
Anthony likes good food and he likes spending time on the lake. We were encouraged to try anything and everything and we played a lot of sport together as a family. Our parents have travelled the world for us.When I was captaining Munster, my dad was at all the games; I remember the boys were playing Wasps in Thomond Park and Dad came up to watch us in Armagh. Every family is different; we know we've been lucky.
My father always says my mother should only pay one-30th of the price of a ticket - because she only sees one person on the pitch. A couple of times Anthony got a couple of stitches or something and we'd be upset, but she'd be more so.
But at the end of every game, it's the same for us or the lads: you play rugby on the pitch and afterwards you put on your best face and you look your best. It's a game and it ends on the pitch. Of course you want to win but it's a game. The friends and travel and craic over the years have been amazing. You'd have to be proud to be associated with the whole get-up with Munster at the moment. The whole region is buzzing.