Premiership Rugby leaders Exeter Chiefs have dismissed reports linking the club to former Ulster centre Stuart Olding.
The Ireland international and teammate Paddy Jackson had their Ulster Rugby and IRFU contracts revoked on Saturday after the union’s internal review following the duo’s acquittal of raping the same woman in a nine-week trial at Belfast Crown Court.
Multiple reports have linked Jackson with a move to last season’s Champions Cup finalists Clermont while Olding has been rumoured for a move to the Premiership leading Chiefs.
The Exeter club have moved to distance themselves from Olding with forwards coach Rob Hunter dismissing links to the player.
“I can tell you what I know, which is absolutely nothing. It’s not something that we’ve discussed in the office,” Hunter told the club’s official website after his side’s 45-5 victory over London Irish at the Madejski Stadium on Sunday.
“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, but it’s nothing to do with us really.”
In a statement on Saturday, the IRFU and Ulster Rugby confirmed that both players contracts with Irish Rugby had been revoked with immediate effect.
The IRFU cited their commitment to the core values of the game as contributing factors in the dismissal of both players:
“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.”
