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16th Apr 2018

English club denies any interest in signing Stuart Olding

Tony Cuddihy

Olding

The player’s contract with the IRFU and Ulster Rugby was revoked last week.

The Exeter Chiefs have denied speculation linking them with a move for Stuart Olding, whose deal with the IRFU and Ulster Rugby was revoked last week.

Olding and Paddy Jackson are both searching for new clubs after they were sacked by Ulster Rugby and the IRFU; the pair were recently found not guilty of rape and sexual assault – accusation which arose from a house party at Jackson’s home in June 2016 – but were widely criticised for the content of WhatsApp and text messages around the time of the alleged incident.

Now, Exeter’s Forwards coach Rob Hunter has denied any interest in bringing Olding into the fold.

“I can tell you what I know, which is absolutely nothing,” he said. “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, it’s just not on our radar, it’s nothing to do with us really.”

The IRFU and Ulster Rugby said in a statement this weekend: “Following a review, conducted in the aftermath of recent court proceedings, the Irish Rugby Football Union and Ulster Rugby have revoked the contracts of Patrick Jackson and Stuart Olding with immediate effect.

“In arriving at this decision, the Irish Rugby Football Union and Ulster Rugby acknowledge our responsibility and commitment to the core values of the game: respect, inclusivity and integrity.

“It has been agreed, as part of this commitment, to conduct an in-depth review of existing structures and educational programmes within the game in Ireland to ensure the importance of these core values is clearly understood, supported and practised at every level of the game.”

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