Horan insists Gaffney meeting took place

Rugby:The former Australia centre Tim Horan has insisted that he did have a conversation with Irish backs coach Alan Gaffney about Ireland's tactics following last weekend's famous win over the Wallabies.

Horan revealed in a newspaper column during the week that Gaffney admitted to a policy of feigning injury in order to slow the game down, an assertion that was rejected out of hand by Ireland coach Declan Kidney this afternoon.

Kidney addressed the matter during the team announcement in Roturua earlier today, describing Horan’s account as “incredulous and slightly scandalous”.

“What I can tell your for definite is that the reporter in question (Horan) was never in the dressing room,” said Kidney. “The coach in question (Gaffney) never spoke to him, so I’ll let you make your own inferences on how he feels he can quote something that was never said.

“It’s incredulous and slightly scandalous that he’d try to bring one of his fellow countrymen into something that is totally untrue. It’s for other people to have their standards in life.”

But Horan, who won 80 caps for Australia, was still standing over his column this evening, conceding that although the meeting with Gaffney may not have been inside the Irish dressing room, it took place directly outside the changing area at Eden Park.

"After the game I went down, just outside the dressing rooms and onto the field," Horan told the Fox Sports Rugby World Cup Centreshow in Australia, "and Alan Gaffney was there.

"I know Alan Gaffney very well, we were Wallabies selectors together. I had a great chat to him, applauding him for the tactics that they used; I thought they were wonderful tactics in the conditions.

"Yeah I definitely spoke to him ... (Gaffney's) a lovely bloke and I didn't want to drag him into this."

With sections of the Australian blaming cynical Irish tactics for the Wallabies reverse, Horan added fuel to the fire with his claim in the Daily Telegraph.

“Ireland had a deliberate plan to fake injuries each time there was a breakdown in play last Saturday,” he wrote, “so they could slow the game down and frustrate the Wallabies.

“How can I be sure? By talking to Irish assistant coach Alan Gaffney in the dressing rooms afterwards . . . Ireland had a game plan for Australia and it worked a treat: to slow the game down just for stoppages, target them in the scrum, and put the high ball up at every opportunity.”