Rugby fans now threaten boycott over firing of pair
THE Ulster Rugby Supporters Club, which organised a petition of some 17,000 people to keep Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding on the Ulster team, are now seeking advice from fans on their next move after the pair were fired.
Despite the lurid messages about the woman at the centre of their rape trial in Belfast, it seems Jackson and Olding are still respected in some quarters of Ulster rugby.
In fact, following the sacking of the pair, who were acquitted on all charges of rape, many of the fan club’s angry members took to social media at the weekend, threatening to boycott the Ulster team for firing the players.
The moderator of the South Wales Ulster Rugby Supporters Club Facebook page yesterday wrote: ‘55 years old and most of that as an Ulster supporter but after this “stab in the back” I’m seriously considering going to give my loyalty to the [Llanelli] Scarlets or up to Cardiff to support of The Cardiff Blues. Anyone with me?’
The URSC yesterday emailed their members to test their reaction to the joint Irish Rugby Football Union and Ulster Rugby decision to revoke the contracts of Jackson and Olding.
Last month, following their acquittals, Jackson and Olding were subject to a joint review into their conduct.
The URSC announced last week there could be repercussions in terms of ticket sales if their contracts were not renewed and a petition calling for the players to be reinstated received more than 17,000 signatures, with demonstrations in support of Jackson and Olding outside Ravenhill ahead of their clash with the Ospreys last Friday.
In a statement yesterday, the URSC said it would ‘now examine the review outcome and, taking account of members’ views, provide a considered response in due course’.
While Jackson, 26, and Olding, 25, were found not guilty last month, an IRFU and Ulster Rugby review had focused on a series of sexually explicit WhatsApp conversations between the players which prompted their contracts to be revoked.
Jackson is expected to be contracted with a top French rugby club after his double sacking. The Irish Mail on Sunday reported that several English clubs have turned him down.
EVEN when Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding were acquitted on rape charges, it was clear that their sporting careers remained very much in the balance. The remarks made in their WhatsApp exchanges, as revealed during the trial, were, at the very least, deeply unpleasant.
Now it emerges that Ulster Rugby Supporters Club has emailed members to canvass opinions on the sacking of the two players. Meanwhile, 17,000 fans have already signed a petition to boycott matches unless they are both reinstated.
Given the unswerving nature of team loyalties, none of this comes as a great surprise. But the inescapable truth is that sporting figures are role models for vast numbers of teenagers and children alike.
Whether Messrs Jackson or Olding like it or not, that is the reality. And the bottom line is that the attitudes illustrated in those WhatsApp messages are entirely incompatible with that.