Ulster players left 'with a great deal of sadness' after Jackson and Olding exit

Ulster and Ireland rugby player Rob Herring says the club was left in "with a great deal of sadness" at hearing Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding would be leaving.

In a press conference held today ahead of Saturday’s PRO14 clash against Glasgow, Herring read out a statement on behalf of the province’s players.

“It is with a great deal of sadness that the players and pro staff have learnt of this outcome," he said.

We know that the two boys will be successful both on and off the pitch wherever they go.

The pair had their contracts revoked by the IRFU and Ulster Rugby on Saturday in the wake of their acquittal of rape charges last month.

Jackson said he was "deeply disappointed" anout the outcome of the review, but he accepted that his behaviour had "fallen far short of the values expected of me as an international player, a role model for the game of rugby and as a son and a brother".

Jackson, 26, and Olding, 25, were unanimously acquitted in Belfast Crown Court last month of raping the same woman at a party at Jackson's south Belfast home in June 2016. Jackson was also found not guilty of sexual assault.

Yesterday, Ulster Rugby chief executive Shane Logan said he "couldn't envisage" Jackson or Olding playing for Ulster or Ireland again.

Former Ireland captain O'Driscoll said this morning that the IRFU were "left with no option but to sever ties with Stuart and Paddy".

- Digital Desk