Mouneimne leaves Bristol after Twitter attack row
Omar Mouneimne, the defence coach who was confronted by Bristol Bears players as the prime suspect behind an anonymous Twitter account criticising team performance and training methods, has left the club by mutual consent.
Bristol confirmed the news yesterday in a press release that lacked any comments from Pat Lam, the director of rugby. Chris Booy, the Bristol chairman, did highlight the “real value” that Mouneimne had added as “a respected member of our coaching set-up”.
“It’s now the right time for him to take on a new challenge and he departs with our best wishes,” Booy added. Mouneimne, a former mixed-martial arts fighter with a rich and varied CV in rugby union, denied any involvement with the “Grindrugby” profile that published detailed insight into Lam’s apparent disregard for defence.
Posts complained that Lam would spend only five minutes of training per week on defence, and expressly defended Mouneimne from blame over poor results.
Dave Attwood, the Bristol lock who is moving to Bath this summer, highlighted the “oddly specific criticism” and asked “are you watching us train, by any chance?” This episode, one of many in a chaotic season for Bristol that has already brought an administrative blunder, a player exodus and the exit of chief executive Mark Tainton, was revealed by Telegraph Sport three weeks ago. With one round of regular season matches to go, Bristol cannot finish higher than 10th in the Premiership and have conceded 92 tries domestically.
In the press release confirming his departure, Mouneimne pointed out that Bristol were far more robust last season, when they qualified for the play-offs. Mouneimne joined Bristol in June 2020, and was therefore on board for Bears’ European Challenge Cup victory.
“I’m proud to have been able to play my role in the Bears journey and there have been many highlights,” Mouneimne said.