The IRFU’s whitewash - No answers, no changes

THE Irish Rugby Football Union may think that it has done a good day’s work by controlling what was released — released, not even published — from the report into our poor performances at the World Cup.

With the arrogance of the member of the House of Lords who asked if any sensible man would allow his servants to read Lady Chatterley’s Lover, it has decided what we should and should not hear.

This is our national team and we are all entitled to know what went wrong. We are also entitled to believe that the difficulties will be confronted and that the potential of our players might be realised.

This entitlement is underlined by the performances of national squad players since they returned to their provinces. An immediate improvement was apparent.

Like our friend in the House of Lords the IRFU seems to be an anachronism, a fusty old uncle from a different age who sees no need to change his ways.

The union’s lack of transparency and enthusiasm for renewing contracts prematurely suggests that we will have to endure a lot more disappointment before things can even begin to get better. Because of IRFU inaction we are once again left to regret the absence of a tradition of honourable resignations in our culture.