Petrie’s swift exit shows Ulster are a club in freefall
ANOTHER one gone then, and you can’t help but wonder who might be next.
These are Stygian times at Ravenhill and, as such, a head office decided that time was well and truly up for Jonny Petrie.
The curious thing is that this was done now, instead of a more low-key time, say at season’s end and smacks of ruthlessness, perhaps a new, more pronounced form of it emanating from HQ.
It seems the end came swiftly, so much so that the usual form of statement on these occasions read like something which had been rushed out and, interestingly, contained a brief quote from
Kevin Potts, IRFU CEO and nothing at all from Petrie.
Of course, the story was getting out and undoubtedly before it was intended to be known but such brevity for a man who had been in post since 2019 read as if all parties wanted a line drawn under this as quickly as possible.
The only problem is that Ulster now have no CEO, an interim one is meant to be coming ahead of the recruitment process for the former Scotland international’s successor, while they are also in possession of an interim head coach in Richie Murphy.
The choreography really doesn’t suggest anything other than an organisation in the grips of freefall… again in much the same manner of backdrop which brought Petrie here in the first place back in January 2019.
Adding to the mix, Petrie had recently made it clear that he intended to be on board to see Ulster through this current crisis; with financial pressures, tales of an exodus of players, falling crowds, declining form and a main sponsor moving towards the departure lounge.
Not that Petrie was a stranger to pressure prior to this point. Last season’s frozen pitch fiasco over the European pool game with La Rochelle having to be moved to the Aviva Stadium and behind closed doors severely turned up the heat on the Scot.
That brought renewed impetus for what appeared to be his pet project, namely laying down an artificial surface at Ravenhill which debuted at the start of this season and is likely to be his legacy as he takes his leave.
Most recently, he had fronted up following Mcfarland’s sacking to pay tribute to the now excoach who had been in ahead of him in 2018, welcome Murphy on board and make it clear as he could that he wasn’t for going anywhere and, in actual, fact was going to be around to see it through.
He also did his best to assure