If men keep hands to themselves, there will be no dire consequences

Aggravated or straightforward, they’re variations on the same malfeasance. One isn’t benign. Both are bad, writes Terry Prone

I’d be prepared to bet you have been involved in a version of a particular and topical conversation. That’s the conversation that starts with the latest news about Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding and Ulster Rugby and then moves into three distinct sections.

What might be called the first act of the conversation deals with Jackson and Olding being fired, and how inevitable it was. That’s the consensus, anyway: Once tough letters had been received from major sponsors such as Bank of Ireland, Ulster Rugby had few choices. The WhatsApp exchanges created a question for sponsors that was brutally easy to answer, the question being: “Do you want your logo across the chest or back of one of the lads who exchanged this filth?”