IRFU: we won’t be held to ransom

IRFU Chief Executive Philip Browne vowed his union will ‘not be held to ransom by contracts’ as it begins a review of Ireland’s disastrous Rugby World Cup campaign.

Coach Eddie O’Sullivan secured a four year deal before the side departed for France but Mr Browne, in Brussels for meetings with EU Commissioners on the Sports White Paper, stressed that whatever the outcome of the review, “we will not be held to ransom by contracts or anything else.”

He added: “Eddie O’Sullivan is the coach and we are looking forward to working with him for the next period. We will do a review. We will assess what the issues are and then we will address those issues.”