The Munster team, who’re in South Africa to play the Lions within the United Rugby Championship (after beating the Bulls at Loftus final weekend), laid a wreath in Cape Town on Tuesday in reminiscence of former coach Greig Oliver.
Oliver died in a paragliding accident on 3 July 2023 in Sea Point, Cape Town after a tandem trip with a pilot went horribly incorrect.
According to a report following an Air Accident Investigation into the incident, the 22-year-old pilot had put Oliver by way of a sequence of fast acrobatic turns that “the paragliding canopy was not designed for.”
The pair ended up colliding with one other paraglider and plunged 250 metres towards the Atlantic Ocean. The teacher was in a position to swim to security, however Oliver didn’t survive the accident.
The Munster rugby team returned to the scene of the incident on Tuesday, laid a wreath and had a second of silence in honour of their beloved late mentor.
“This is the first time we’ve been back in Cape Town since Greig’s sad passing,” stated Munster scrumhalf Craig Casey. “So we thought it would be a really powerful thing to do, to lay a wreath in memory of him.”
“We also want to think about his family and friends and everyone he left behind who loved him.”
A heartbeat of Munster Rugby
Oliver, a former Scotland worldwide, had an illustrious teaching profession with a concentrate on junior-level rugby.
After stints at nationwide and membership degree for Scotland, Oliver moved to Ireland and joined Munster’s teaching set-up in 2011.
At Munster he assumed the position of Elite Player Development Officer with the Munster Rugby Academy. Here he played an instrumental role in creating Munster gamers for all times in skilled rugby.
“A lot of us in the squad loved him to bits and all owe our careers to him,” stated Casey. “I know he paved the path for me…he was like a father figure in pro rugby.”
In addition to his position with Munster’s academy, Oliver additionally held teaching roles with the Ireland U20s, the Munster ‘A’s, and the province’s age-grade sides.
At the time of his loss of life, Oliver was in Cape Town together with his spouse to support their son Jack, 20, who was taking part in for Ireland on the World Rugby U20 Championship.
“With Jack being in the Academy as well, it’s unbelievable for us to be able to do this,” Casey added.
“It’s difficult to come down here and see where it happened, and you get all the memories flooding back. He really was a heartbeat of Munster Rugby.”
