Axel – A legend

One of my summer reads. Anthony Foley offers a great review of his remarkable family and career. The Foley family have over 100 Irish international caps, between Axel, his father Brendan and sister Rosie. I’ve read a few biographies of the pre-professional era, from Paddy Johns and Willie John McBride and the like. Then there are those whose stories are completely about professional rugby – Clive Woodward, Martin Johnson, O’Driscoll and O’Gara. What I really love about Axel’s book is that he grew up in the amatuer game and all that went with it, and I suppose struggled a bit to catch up with the pace of change of professionalism. His love of the game is so apparent and he plays with that instilled Munster and Shannon passion. Some of the stories are great, giving an insight into the personality – a passionate, honest and committed player who has a huge love and respect for the sport. Foley would always have been one of the first names on my Irish team selections and he probably should have had a longer run early in his career. I’ll remember him for leading Munster to the long awaited Heineken Cup, but he had plenty of amazing performances in green too.