Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
JACKSON WILL NEVER PLAY FOR ULSTER AGAIN
New chief rules out ‘reopening old wounds’ over rape trial
ULSTER Rugby’s new chief executive has closed the door on Paddy Jackson ever playing for his home club again.
Jonny Petrie, who arrived in the province last month, insisted yesterday he had no desire to “reopen old wounds”.
Jackson and team-mate Stuart Olding had their Ulster and Irish Rugby Football Union contracts terminated last year after they were cleared of rape.
In the wake of a high-profile nineweek trial, IRFU high performance director David Nucifora hinted the duo might be able to resume their careers at home some day.
Ulster’s operations director Bryn Cunningham suggested likewise.
However, Petrie, the former Glasgow and Scotland captain, didn’t shirk a controversy he inherited when quizzed if Jackson had a future back at Ulster.
The 42-year-old said: “I’ve been brought here to move this place forward and to move it forward I don’t see that we should be reopening old wounds.
“This issue, looking at it from the outside, for such a long time it has been something that has been hugely divisive on a number of fronts.
“This needs to be about the rugby and we need to move this club forward.
“If people want to draw their own conclusions from that, that’s up to them, but I don’t see it’s in anyone’s best interests to be reopening old wounds that have caused such division within the sport and across society.
“We’re in a position where we’re moving forward and making this place about the rugby.”
Jackson, 27, is believed to be on the verge of signing a lucrative two-year deal with London Irish – a move many viewed as a stepping-stone back to rugby in Ireland after a disastrous year with struggling French club Perpignan.
Declan Kidney, who handed Jackson his Ireland debut in 2013, and former Ulster head coach Les Kiss are currently close to guiding the Exiles back to the English Premiership.
Olding, 25, is set to stay for a second season at Brive in the French second division, having signed a one-year
extension in October.
YESTERDAY