Ireland Women head coach Greg McWilliams says he doesn't believe the Irish Rugby Football Union is a sexist organisation and has dismissed an article that appeared this morning as containing "historical" issues.
The piece that appeared in the The Telegraph, outlined concerns of an unnamed Irish player, who is or was until recently in the squad.
She said that some squad members were refused protein supplements as they prepared for last year’s tour of Japan, and that the switch from white to blue shorts over period concerns was done without consultation with the players and was a public relations stunt.
The anonymous player also said players had learned that they were dropped after receiving the squad emails and that some had been left off mailing lists.
The IRFU disputed the claims made in the article.
In December 2021, 62 current and former players signed a letter saying that they had lost "all trust and confidence" in the IRFU and asked for support to make meaningful changes. Two separate reviews followed in 2022.
The latest revelations come just two days before Ireland take on Italy in round three of the TikTok Women’s Six Nations looking to bounce back from heavy defeats to Wales and France.
Addressing reporters after naming his team for Saturday's match in Parma, McWilliams said: "I read the article. I think it would be wrong of me to not read the article.
"Lots of it is historic, it’s the same things that you could have talked about last year.
"When I met David Nucifora [IRFU performance director] in 2021, he outlined a plan and everything that we talked about, we’re on track and that’s all we can focus on.
"I was the only full-time staff member on 1 December. We now have seven full-time staff members and eight contractors that come into us for competition week, we’ve eight new employments along our pathways and centres of excellence so there’s been a massive growth in that time.
"To be honest with you, talking about things historically, we can’t control, we can’t control external noise, we can control what we can do.
"What happened previously, you know, I can’t stop people talking about.
"It’s an interesting article but again, it’s nearly irrelevant at this stage. We’re moving forward and we’ve a great plan, we’ve got good resources around it."
Another allegation made in the story was about a prominent figure in Irish rugby saying, "Who gives a f**k about women’s rugby?" during a speech being made by IRFU president John Robinson last month.
Asked if he had concerns about the alleged comment, he said: "I don’t and that’s not me being flippant, that’s me being true to myself because I can’t affect what anybody writes.
"Somebody wants to write what they are doing 48 hours before kick-off of probably this team’s most important fixture, I can’t change that."
In answer to the question if he believed the IRFU was sexist, McWilliams said: "No, of course not.
"Again, I met up with David Nucifora in 2021 and he outlined what his plan was.
"I outlined the way I felt it needed to go and, if you look at the staff that we have around us; I was able to have an influence on getting the right people around this group.
"Brilliant professionals, who care about turning Irish rugby into something that's going to be special.
"Yes, we're going through tough times but I think that's part of why I'm enjoying it so much."
Regarding the more recent allegation about nutrition issues prior to the Japan tour last August, McWilliams said: "We learn all the time, we now have a full-time nutritionist in Emma Brennan, who is brilliant. We didn't have one before.
"We're entitled to nothing and grateful for everything"
"In every environment, whether it's a female rugby club, male rugby club, a golf team... bringing up an article about somebody not getting protein...I just think that if that's something that I did wrong, I'm not aware of it and I'll own that, but again, we're always trying to evolve and get better.
"So, I need to be better and be on top of things like that."
The player quoted in the article said she had "been in the squad for four, five years" but it was not clear if she is currently a member.
McWilliams was asked if he would have concerns that members of his squad were speaking to newspapers instead of raising issues internally, and replied: "Not really, that player could be someone who is 19 years of age, who has never been a professional or been in this environment before or in the spotlight.
"They'll learn the ways of being a professional athlete, where it's really important...we always talk about that we're entitled to nothing and grateful for everything.
"If you have that as part of your DNA, you're going to go places. We'll make mistakes along the way, our job is to make sure we get better at.
"It's not a concern, but it's something you don't want to see often. Otherwise, it is an issue."
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