Anthony Foley to be remembered by Irish and English legends on Six Nations weekend in Dublin

AN IRELAND LEGENDS XV will face England in memory of Anthony Foley in the annual curtain-raiser to the Six Nations clash between the sides.

The exhibition match will take place on Friday 17 March at the RDS, on the eve of the potential Grand Slam decider between Ireland and England at the Aviva Stadium.

It will be the eighth edition of the fixture and 2017 promises to be one of the biggest with Paul O’Connell and Gordon D’Arcy set to appear for the hosts while World Cup winners Mike Tindall and Mark Cueto will be involved for England.

The game will be of added significance as the first since the untimely passing of Foley last October.

“We started this fixture back in 2009 and it has grown every year, raising over £500,000 for charity,” Shane Byrne said.

“However, this time around it will take on added significance – Anthony played in this game before and I know that he would have loved another crack at the English.

“They have had the upper hand of late, but we have plenty of Irishmen waiting to take the fight to them for one last time in a green jersey.”

It will be a busy sporting day with Ireland U20s set to take on England down the road at Donnybrook at 6pm while Ireland Women will be in action at 8pm.

Tickets for the legends game are priced from €10 and are available on Ticketmaster.