LIMERICK’S Thomond Park will be the place to be this November after being named as the battleground for a Munster clash with an All Blacks side at the same hallowed rugby grounds where a squad of part-timers famously beat the rugby legends 45 years ago.
Munster Rugby confirmed the province will take on an All Blacks XV on November 2 as part of New Zealand’s northern hemisphere winter tour.
The event is sure to generate millions of euro for the local economy, which has been boosted by investment in office space along Howley’s Quay, as well as the ongoing Opera Centre development on Patrick’s Street and Cornmarket Row.
The All Blacks, considered the most feared rugby nation in the world, will also take on Ireland in the Aviva Stadium on November 9.
Since the redevelopment of Thomond Park in 2008, Munster has hosted international opposition in the form of the All Blacks, Australia, and the Māori All Blacks.
Speaking in 2018, on the 40th anniversary of Munster’s historic 12-0 triumph over the Kiwis – their first defeat to an Irish rugby side – Brendan Foley, who played for Munster on the day, said the players had “no fear” entering the anticipated rugby titans clash.
“It was an all-ticket game but when the tickets were gone, (the fans) just piled in, the atmosphere was incredible,” said Foley, whose late son Anthony ‘Axel’ Foley captained Munster to their first Heineken European Cup in 2006, prior to coaching the side until his sudden death in 2016.
Foley Snr, who was a Shannon lock, played an instrumental role in the only try of the October 31, 1978, game.
Foley, a sales rep at the time, who had gone to work on the morning of the match, attended by over 12,000, said: “I remember the supporters’ coats and hats being thrown into the air. It took a while to get off the pitch.”
