In the fall-out of Stephen McIvor's departure from Connacht there are, as ever in these things, two sides to the story. Ostensibly McIvor was released from his contract because he missed a training session on the morning of last Sunday week, but needless to say that incident was at most a catalyst for the parting of the ways between province and player.
That McIvor's contract had conditions which permitted the Connacht director of coaching, Steph Nel, to take such a course of action says something in itself and both parties admit that there had been previous difficulties in the relationship, primarily between McIvor and last season's Connacht coach Glenn Ross.
To what degree this influenced Connacht's decision is open to question but McIvor reveals, and Nel concedes, that the former Irish scrum-half was but one of at least half a dozen Connacht players who missed the session. "I'm disappointed that Connacht went public with what was a private matter and by the comments made by the coaching director, which are somewhat askew of the situation in that there was some ambiguity and confusion about the time of that training session and about half a dozen other players also missed it," said McIvor.
"It's a very sensitive situation," admitted Nel, who has a degree of sympathy for the player but added: "He had a conditional contract and one of those conditions was broken. He's undoubtedly right (in that others missed the session) but he saw my fitness adviser the night before, and was told of the time the session was taking place. There's a lot more that could be said but I'd rather leave it at that."
As anyone who knows him will confirm, McIvor is no shrinking violet, but instead a lively, strong-willed and vocal presence, and he himself concedes that at heart this issue is about "a difference of strong views. Unfortunately my downfall is that I speak my mind sometimes. But I've been playing rugby at a very high level with three provinces and three successful clubs."
"I think I've been involved in 22 competition winning titles, be it interpros, university Triple Crowns, AIL's or whatever, and maybe I have strong beliefs on how rugby should be played, which may be at odds with other people's opinions. However, I've worked successfully and happily with the likes of Eddie O'Sullivan, Murray Kidd, Andy Leslie and others. So I'm obviously very disappointed to be released, although I genuinely wish Connacht every success."
The thrice capped 31-year-old, who recently bought a house in Galway, has also been let go by Buccaneers, a relatively sudden development and despite differences of opinion with their coach Brian Rigney last season which appeared to have since been resolved. "I haven't decided what I'm going to do next. I love the game, the camaraderie and the competitiveness of it, and I still want to go on playing."
Ireland Under-21 international Mossie Lawlor will captain the Munster under-21s when they open their inteprrovincial campaign against Leinster at Templeville Road on Saturday. He is one of six Shannon players in the squad, including lock Tom Hayes, brother of Irish prop John, and hooker Ben Kidd, whose father Murray coached the Irish national side. The Bruff pair of prop Richie Flanagan and flanker Peter Malone, and replacement prop Robert McGrath, played in the 1999 Fira Under-19 World Cup.
