The Irish Rugby Union Players' Association (IRUPA) has dismissed suggestions that players were responsible for the Genesis Report's recommendation that a support manager to Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan be appointed.
Confirming today that it had received a copy of the report on the player survey, the IRUPA said that players are in favour of such an appointment but that comments "attributed to the IRFU in the press" suggesting players were at the "forefront" of the recommendation were inaccurate.
"The players are nonetheless supportive of the IRFU recommendation to appoint such a manager," said Niall Woods, chief executive of IRUPA today.
"The players believe that this appointment should only be made after consultation with the players to ensure that the successful candidate has first hand experience of professional rugby preferably as a player and understands the pressures players and coaches are faced with in the modern professional game"
The statement added the IRUPA would review the detailed survey before consulting with the players and making any recommendations that arise from those discussions.
During the week the Genesis Report recommended that a backs coach, a sports psychologist and a team manager be appointed to the Ireland set-up after the team failed to live up to its potential in the World Cup in France.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/IMNWKIX5DFFCFE5CD5NLBU6EVY.png)