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Brian Gleeson paid the perfect tribute to the late Anthony Foley by ditching his number eight jersey and then scored Munster’s first try in a 33-25 win over Racing 92.
The number eight shirt was retired for the night at Supervalu Pairc ui Chaoimh in honor of the club’s former captain and head coach, who died aged 42 ahead of the 2016 clash between the same teams.
Gleeson wore the number 24 instead and put the Irish side ahead in the seventh minute when he crossed the line.
That helped his side lead 14-6 at half-time, with Shay McCarthy adding the second score. Both sides touched down three times in an expansive second half, Tadhg Beirne, Fineen Wychereley and Craig Casey for the hosts, who never surrendered the lead, while Wilfried Hulleu, Maxime Machenaud and Joey Manu hit back for France.
Charlie O’Shea converted three times in his debut and Antoine Gibert had 10 points in the loss.
The match began with a performance of ‘There is an Isle’ in Foley’s memory, with a shirt presentation between the teams before kick-off.
On the other hand in Bath, Johann van Graan’s side were taught a lesson in the second half Montpellier as they fell to a 32-14 defeat at The Rec in their Pool Four clash.
The home side led 14-10 at the interval after Ollie Lawrence and Arthur Green scored following Stuart Hogg’s opener.
However, Joe Cokanasiga then wasted a golden opportunity to extend Bath’s lead after the break and the French side capitalized.
Donovan Taofifinua crossed in the corner to give Montpellier the lead before he intercepted Finn Russell’s pass and fired in a quick-fire finish.
Alex Becognee secured the points for the away side after Josh Bayliss’ try for Bath was excluded due to a previous violation.
