Munster have no idea if leaked report could mean law suits

Munster Rugby CEO Garrett Fitzgerald admits he has no idea if the leaking of a confidential coaching report will result in legal action against the province down the line, but says they've acted as properly as possible since the incident.

The accidental forwarding of the report to all the Munster squad, management and members of staff including Fitzgerald, was referred to the Data Protection Commissioner after Munster sought legal advice and the CEO feels they have done “everything right” since.

The internal coaches’ report is believed to have included detailed assessments on each member of the squad, which were to be shared with the players individually in their assessments.

Investigated

Fitzgerald says Munster have investigated the incident, are satisfied it was accidental, and have taken steps to ensure such an incident won’t happen again.

“The risk of someone bringing a case or something like that . . . in the modern day era you never know that.

“Every time you have a match someone will fall up the stairs or someone will do something in the modern day era, so your regulations and your organisation must be prepared for that every week even if nothing happens.

Head coach Anthony Foley said the experience has shown him how a number of people will always be hungry to see you fail, despite all the well wishes he's received since his appointment.

He admitted he was annoyed the document made its way into the players’ hands, but said there was also plenty of positives about players in the document, which hasn’t be mentioned.

“I trust the players would understand that when we sit down there are positives and negatives in everything that we do, whether that is my view on them or their view on me. That is the nature of the business we are in, everybody has a viewpoint.

“Look to be honest, the annoying thing is the document got out in the first place but the nature of it is the focus on the negative. There was a lot of positives written in there so we often talk about the eye of the beholder.”

Motivational

Outhalf Ian Keatley said that once he got over the initial shock of seeing the email content, he decided to use it as a motivational tool.

“I think we were all a bit surprised when it first came out on the Wednesday night but that night there was another email sent out. Axel addressed it and said the e-mail has been send out and we apologise profusely, ‘but if want to come in and talk to me I am not going to hold anything back and you can talk to me’ and it was addressed very well.

“In fairness, you kind of know yourself what your attributes are, what you contribute to the squad. It is kind of different when you see it in writing.

“Probably the worrying thing about it was that everyone saw it, but it was an honest mistake. It could have happened to anyone. They have apologised and, to be honest, there is nothing much more they can do about it so it is fine,” said Keatley.