Racing 92 plan to honour the memory of late Munster coach Anthony Foley at the rescheduled fixture between the teams, writes Stephen Barry.
Foley died on October 16 in Paris as Munster prepared for their Champions Cup opener, sparking an outpouring of emotion as fans sang and placed tributes to the legendary player at the gates of the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir.
Ahead of tomorrow’s refixture at the same ground, Racing and Munster fans will unite in a guard of honour to welcome the two teams at 2.30pm local time. That follows an offer from the Racing supporters club to give free accommodation to visiting Munster followers.
The Racing players, coached by Foley’s former teammate Ronan O’Gara, will warm-up in red t-shirts featuring Foley’s name and number 8.
The French club will display banners reading ‘Axel’ and ‘Red Army welcome back’. They will also release red smoke during the minute’s applause in Foley’s honour.
The hosts are already out of the Champions Cup with no points from three games, although O’Gara wrote in his Irish Examiner column that Racing will be determined to win, especially at home.
. @RonanOGara10 : " Un match à domicile, on doit le gagner !" #R92MUN pic.twitter.com/FdhBRVj1zR
— Racing 92 (@racing92) January 4, 2017
Munster named their team earlier today for the tie which could see them go top of Pool 1, with Keith Earls on the bench and Ian Keatley left out of the squad.
Dan Carter is named as a replacement for Racing.
Ce samedi à 16h45, les Ciel et Blanc reçoivent les Irlandais du @Munsterrugby, découvrez le XV de départ Francilien. #R92MUN pic.twitter.com/hszqbrO93U
— Racing 92 (@racing92) January 6, 2017
