The late Greig Oliver worked with Munster’s academy as Elite Player Development Officer. Image: Nick Pawson
Paraglider death in Cape Town: Munster team lay wreath to honour late coach
Ireland’s Munster rugby team laid a wreath on the Sea Point promenade to honour a former coach who died in a paragliding accident.
The late Greig Oliver worked with Munster’s academy as Elite Player Development Officer. Image: Nick Pawson
The Munster team, who are in South Africa to play the Lions in the United Rugby Championship (after beating the Bulls at Loftus last weekend), laid a wreath in Cape Town on Tuesday in memory of former coach Greig Oliver.
Oliver died in a paragliding accident on 3 July 2023 in Sea Point, Cape Town after a tandem ride with a pilot went horribly wrong.
According to a report following an Air Accident Investigation into the incident, the 22-year-old pilot had put Oliver through a series of quick acrobatic turns that “the paragliding canopy was not designed for.”
The pair ended up colliding with another paraglider and plunged 250 metres toward the Atlantic Ocean. The instructor was able to swim to safety, but Oliver did not survive the accident.
The Munster rugby team returned to the scene of the incident on Tuesday, laid a wreath and had a moment 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,” said 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 international, had an illustrious coaching career with a focus on junior-level rugby.
After stints at national and club level for Scotland, Oliver moved to Ireland and joined Munster’s coaching set-up in 2011.
At Munster he assumed the role of Elite Player Development Officer with the Munster Rugby Academy. Here he played an instrumental role in developing Munster players for life in professional rugby.
“A lot of us in the squad loved him to bits and all owe our careers to him,” said Casey. “I know he paved the path for me…he was like a father figure in pro rugby.”
In addition to his role with Munster’s academy, Oliver also held coaching roles with the Ireland U20s, the Munster ‘A’s, and the province’s age-grade sides.
At the time of his death, Oliver was in Cape Town with his wife to support their son Jack, 20, who was playing for Ireland at 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.”
