I do feel for Siobhan’s family but I deny the allegations against me
SCOTLAND women’s head coach Bryan Easson has received the public support of his players and has denied the allegations levelled at him by the parents of Siobhan Cattigan.
The Scottish squad said they were not only behind Easson but also felt ‘fully supportive’ of the national medical team, who had also been singled out for criticism by the Cattigan family in the aftermath of the tragic death of their daughter Siobhan at the age of just 26.
‘We are focusing on the World Cup, supported by our medical and management team and led by Bryan as our head coach, who has our full support heading into the tournament,’ said a statement issued to the media by fly-half Helen Nelson on behalf of all the players.
‘Shibby was a kind and loving team-mate, a fierce competitor and above all a great friend. We are committed to continuing her legacy into the World Cup in New Zealand and beyond.’
Speaking on the eve of Scotland’s World Cup warm-up against the USA at the DAM Health Stadium in Edinburgh today, Easson said he had no intention of standing down and ‘did not recognise’ allegations made by the Cattigans that the SRU had been ‘callous and uncaring’.
He said: ‘As the players have been very clear, I’ve got full support not only from them but also the management, and also from the senior management here as well. So, no, I have no intention of standing down.
‘I think all the allegations have been really hurtful for everyone. It has been a tough time, I’m not going to deny that, for myself personally and for everyone.’
The most serious allegation against Easson was that he had shouted: ‘Get her f ****** back on that pitch, get her back on’ after Cattigan picked up a head injury against Wales in April 2021.
After a head-injury assessment (HIA) in the 21st minute, she came back on and played the rest of the game. The family said Siobhan had told them several times she heard the alleged words being said via one of the earpieces of the people treating her.
Easson strongly denied making such a statement, adding: ‘It has been a difficult time for everyone and my sincere condolences are always with Siobhan and her family. These allegations have been very difficult for all involved in this squad, myself, the players, the squad, our families.
‘Around the allegations of me trying to get Siobhan on the field, I would like to say that I will continue to deny that and the players and management who were also near that have also been asked the question and they never heard that.
‘To give you some clarity, Siobhan was brought off the field with a head injury and rightly so.
‘When the player is taken off, they are taken into an environment where an independent doctor deals with that head-injury assessment. In that assessment, it is important that the independent doctor has a quiet space to allow the player to be able to pass or fail an HIA, which is the important thing for us to discuss.
‘When the player comes out of that head-injury assessment, whether they have passed or not, my communication is to ask our team doctor: is the player okay to go back on? The communication is led by medics to coaches. It is not coaches leading. The medics will speak to me around that and my communication is with the team manager and doctor, so I am fine with that.’
Asked if he was 100-per-cent satisfied that the protocols were followed after Cattigan’s head knock, Easson replied: ‘Yes, I am satisfied with that.’
Easson denied a further accusation that he had given short shrift to concerns from Cattigan when she said she was feeling anxious during a tournament in Italy.
He said: ‘I think we are in a position where the players would feed back on anything they were unhappy about. We have a large playing group, a leadership group.
‘I have, as you see in the statement, full support from the players. They have no concern over the way I run the programme. I have always been person first, player second, and I will continue to be like that. You can see I have the full support from Mark Dodson and John Jeffrey at the SRU.’ Asked if he supported the Cattigans’ call for an independent inquiry, he replied: ‘My job is to coach this group. We’ve worked very hard to pull this group together. It has been a difficult time, and I’ve got all the players, the management and everyone to think about, in terms of not just their playing but also their mindset as well. I want to continue to concentrate on that and I will leave that to the senior management to decide on what’s going to happen.’
Meanwhile, Scotland fly-half Nelson insisted there had previously been ‘a breakdown in communication’ when Rugby Players Scotland (RPS) representative Bill Mitchell released a statement on the Cattigan situation without the players’ permission. Every player posted a Tweet distancing themselves from his comments.
Sportsmail understands that Scotland squad representative Megan Gaffney had spoken to Mitchell on behalf of the players, but did not think that would lead to a website article by him, supposedly on their behalf.
‘There was a communication breakdown,’ said Nelson. ‘We have actively tried to never put our thoughts out there for respect for the family and our management and we felt frustrated that had happened without our permission. We are working on rebuilding our relationship with him (Mitchell). It will take time to rebuild that relationship with RPS overall, too, but, as a players’ group, we are working on that.’ SCOTLAND v USA. Kick-off: 4pm, DAM Health Stadium. LIVE on Scottishrugby.org SCOTLAND: Rollie; Lloyd, Orr, Thomson, Smith; Nelson, Mattinson; Wright, Skeldon, Belisle, Wassell, Bonar, Malcolm, McMillan, Gallagher. Replacements: Rettie, Bartlett, Clarke, McLauchlan, Konkel, McDonald, Smith, Campbell. USA: Kelter; Detiveaux, Haungtau, Howard, Clapp; Cantorna, Ortiz; Rogers, Kitlinski, James, Taufoou, Kronish, Matyas, Johnson, Zackary. Replacements: Hayward, Benson, Jacoby, Ashenbrucker, Perris- Redding, Waters, Bizer, Feury.