London: Fly-half Paddy Jackson will never play for Ireland again after he and teammate Stuart Olding were sacked despite being cleared in a rape trial, the Ulster chief executive said.
Jackson, 26, and centre Olding, 25, had their contracts with Ulster and the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) terminated after an internal review following their acquittal.
The players were found not guilty of raping the same woman in June 2016. Jackson was also unanimously acquitted of sexual assault.
Before the trial Jackson had been the stand-in for Irish No. 1 fly-half Johnny Sexton but Ulster chief executive Shane Logan said he did not believe Jackson would add to the 25 caps he had won. Olding has four caps.
“The position is joint. It’s a joint Irish and Ulster rugby position. The statement is clear and it is not something that we are contemplating,” Logan told the BBC when asked about the pair’s chances of either playing for the province or Ireland again.
“We have taken on board everybody’s views right across society, right across our supporter group, our sponsor group, our players, clubs, volunteers, we are part of society. The players themselves admitted in their own statements that they were way short of what was expected of them.”
