Neil Francis apologises profusely and unreservedly for controversial comments on gays in sport

In an appearance on The Last Word on Today FM this evening, Neil Francis apologised 'profusely and unreservedly' for controversial comments made about gays in sport on Newstalk yesterday.

Audio here (via Today FM): The former Irish rugby player turned rugby pundit appeared on the show in the wake of controversial comments he made on Newstalk’s Off the Ball about gays in sport yesterday, comments which generated a pretty heated reaction in social media circles. Francis was joined on the show by openly gay rugby referee Nigel Owens, who had appeared on The Pat Kenny show on Newstalk earlier in the day and had criticised Francis’ comments, saying that they came from ‘the dark ages’. Francis was asked to explain himself by the host of The Last Word, Matt Cooper, who called the remarks ‘offensive’ and ‘downright stupid’. Here’s a few snippets from his response. “When I got home I had a listen to interview again and it didn’t sound like me at all,” Francis said. “I realise that I was in a field of landmines and I stood in one or two. The points I was trying to make were clumsily made, the language and analogies used were poor and poorly expressed and it’s unusual for me to be unable to articulate myself." Francis said that, on reflection, he probably "said the wrong things" admitted that some of the things he said were "extremely clumsy" and said that he "would like to withdraw those comments and apologise profusely and unreservedly" for any offence caused. Asked whether Francis’ comments went far enough as an apology for what he had said yesterday, Nigel Owens responded: “Yes. We all make mistakes in our lives. Apologies are fine as long as they’re genuine and from the heart,” and continued to say that it was fine as long as Francis wasn’t merely apologising as a result of the pressure put him by the reaction to his original comments. Cooper then asked Francis if it was indeed a genuine apology, to which Francis replied: “It is. I say what I mean, I wouldn’t say this unless I meant it.”