Ulster players give their reaction to Jackson and Olding sackings

Ulster's players and staff were disappointed at the decision to cancel the deals of Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding after the duo were acquitted of rape charges.

The Ireland internationals were cleared of rape at Belfast Crown Court last month, with Jackson also found not guilty of sexual assault.

Both men had denied raping the same woman at a party at Jackson's home in June 2016.

Although Jackson and Olding were cleared of criminal charges, they have faced criticism over the content of explicit WhatsApp conversations that emerged during the trial between the players and their friends.

Following a review of the trial, Ulster and the Irish Rugby Football Union released a joint statement last week confirming that the two players' contracts had been terminated.

"It is with a great deal of sadness that the players and pro staff have learnt of this outcome," said Ulster hooker Rob Herring, reading from a pre-prepared statement as he faced the media on Tuesday.

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

"As a group, we have to move on and our full focus is now on Glasgow this weekend."

Meanwhile Paddy Jackson’s hopes of playing his rugby in France took a blow after one of the reported leading contenders to sign him ruled themselves out.

Clermont had been rumoured to be favourites to sign the former Ireland and Ulster fly half, but their sports director Franck Azema put an end to the speculation.

“The Irish opener will not come” he said emphatically.

“There is no contact between Paddy Jackson and the club and no desire on our part to engage his services. I trust our workforce in this position where we do not lack resources with Camille Lopez, Patricio Fernandez, Ice Toeava and Dorian Lavernhe who continues to progress and whom we trust. With the constraints imposed by the Salary Cap, it is not possible to strengthen the position of opener where the internal solutions are numerous.”

It comes after Exeter Chiefs dismissed the possibility of signing Stuart Olding.

Rob Hunter, Exeter’s forwards coach, was speaking to the club’s official website in the aftermath of their 45-5 victory over London Irish on Sunday and stated the following.

“I can tell you what I know, which is nothing, it’s not something that we’ve discussed in the office.”

“So, it’s another one of those where we’ve been linked to somebody but we’ve not spoken to an agent and we’ve not spoken to a player. It’s not on our radar at all.”

“We get linked to lots of players, but it’s nothing to do with us really.”

You may also like: 

Ex-Scotland international, Jim Hamilton, travels to Singapore to explore the city and find out more about the rugby scene in the Southeast Asian country. He meets up with the national team captain and several local players.