Player rifts ‘not to blame’ for Rugby World Cup flop

PERSONALITY clashes and personal problems either did not exist or did not have any bearing on Ireland’s awful performance at the Rugby World Cup, a management consultants’ investigation has found.

An internationally experienced manager and a sports psychologist are among the measures being adopted by the IRFU following the publication of the Genesis report on the past summer’s World Cup debacle.

Yesterday, the committee of the IRFU received the report from the management consultants who found, not surprisingly, that management, players and the IRFU collectively underperformed at the tournament.

Commenting on the results of the probe, Philip Browne, chief executive of the IRFU, said: “This presentation identified that there was a complex mix of factors involved in Ireland’s underperformance at Rugby World Cup 2007.

“In an effort to protect frontline players from injury in advance of the World Cup, the findings are that they did not participate in a sufficient number of high-intensity matches and thus they lacked the level of match practice required for them to perform to their optimal at the actual tournament.

“In relation to the players’ reactions, which were sought through a confidential questionnaire in conjunction with IRUPA, together with one-on-one interviews, the report clearly found that personal issues or rifts did not exist or play any role in the underperformance of the team,” said Mr Browne.

The IRFU also intends to appoint a dedicated backs coach to further strengthen the management team and “identify routes to increase the opportunities for emerging players to perform competitively in an elite environment on a continuous basis”.

By and large, beleaguered Irish coach Eddie O’Sullivan will be satisfied with most of the report’s contents.

The fact that no apparent fault was found by the players with the way he handled matters seems to ensure that he escapes from the exercise relatively unscathed.