Rugby pals 'spread details of players' threesome'

Laura Butler

– 30 July 2013

GRAPHIC details of an alleged threesome between a young woman and two Irish rugby players were circulated online by a group of rugby friends.

The 24-year-old woman from the greater Dublin area had a fling with the international teammates after meeting them during a night on the town.

Details of the incident emerged after the woman posted a private message on her Facebook page, which inadvertently went public.

But it has also emerged that details of the night were circulated by a group of rugby-playing friends who have known each other for years.

Some of these players are friends with the two international stars since they were young players. While not full internationals, at least one of the group now plays for a well-known club team.

It has now emerged that extracts of an online conversation between this group of male friends are being passed around.

In the group chat, a third male provided intimate details about the reported threesome.

He said that one of the two players at the centre of the incident was in a hotel room with the woman in question, a business university graduate, before the second player joined them in the act.

NIGHTCLUB

The two men, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had spent the evening drinking in a pub in the Grafton Street area with friends, before going on to a well-known nightclub.

A source told the Irish Independent that there was “plenty of alcohol” consumed. It is believed that they went from the nightclub to a nearby late-night fast-food restaurant, where they bumped into the woman.

The trio stayed in a city-centre hotel until the early hours of the following day.

Meanwhile, the woman has returned to Ireland. She left the country for several days to reside with a sibling in the UK after news of the story initially emerged.

The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the Irish Independent that she felt there had been a “massive breach” in her privacy with regards to how details of the incident initially spread – a conversation on Facebook that went viral.

“The message I sent was to a close friend and I never in a million years ever thought anyone else would see, let alone for it to be sent around for so many others to see. It’s such a breach of my privacy,” she said.

The woman has since deactivated her social networking page.

Irish Independent

Rugby pals "spread details of players" threesome"

BT Sport thwarts Sky advertising ban by sponsoring Glasgow and Edinburgh ...

By

Andy Newport, Press Association

 

BT Sport has found a way past Sky Sports ban on screening its rival broadcaster’s adverts after signing a four-year shirt sponsorship deal with two of the teams Sky has signed up to televise this season.

Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby have agreed a ‘substantial multi-million pound’ deal that will see both clubs sport BT’s logo on their shirts.

The Scottish sides complete in the RaboDirect Pro12 and Heineken Cup, competitions which are to be screened live next year by Sky.

On board: Edinburgh’s Ross Ford (left) and Tim Visser (right) with Marc Watson, chief executive of TV for BT

The announcement of the deal follows an Ofcom ruling last month which rejected BT’s complaints over Sky’s refusal to promote its new rivals on its own channels.

BT will launch three channels later this week, broadcasting live football from the Barclays Premier League in England and Scotland’s newly-formed Scottish Premiership.

Its rugby content includes Aviva Premiership matches and France’s Top 14 – but it will not screen games involving the two sides it has just signed up to sponsor.

However, Marc Watson, chief executive of TV for BT Retail, claims that could change in future.

On the ball: BT Sport’s sponsorship deal will mean their logo is seen on Sky Sports’ rugby coverage

When asked if the deal with Edinburgh and Glasgow was a ploy to get around Sky’s ban, he said: “When you are looking at a sponsorship arrangement, one of the things you look at is who is going to see your logo, your brand. The audience that follows Scottish rugby is an important audience for us to reach.

‘The RaboDirect (PRO12) will be covered by Sky and other broadcasters too in the next few years and that broadcaster exposure is one of the elements – but not the only one – in what is quite a broad deal with Scottish Rugby.

‘We launch three channels later this week and it’s a major strategic objective of the company to establish those channels and to make them a success. As we are launching those channels into the marketplace it seems an obvious thing to use this deal to help promote those channels.

Ready for launch: Mayor of London Boris Johnson (centre) received a tour of the new BT Sport studio

‘This is a sponsorship deal, not a broadcasting deal. We will look in the future at all opportunities to broadcast sports as they come up and if an opportunity comes up to broadcast (the Scottish) rugby teams then of course we will look at it.

‘For the rugby fan, we believe we (already) have a lot that is attractive and that is appealing.’

Mark Dodson, chief executive of the Scottish Rugby Union – which owns both Edinburgh and Glasgow – hinted the deal would see extra money be made available to strengthen both squads.

He said: ‘This is the most lucrative shirt sponsorship deal we have ever signed – by some margin. It dwarfs any deal we have signed in the past.

‘We will always be looking for the best players possible. If that means the player budget rises as a consequence, that is what will happen.

‘I’ve given both coaches (Gregor Townsend and Stevie Scott) the reassurance that if there is a top-class player out there that they want, who wants to come to Scotland, we will fund it.’

BT Sport thwarts Sky advertising ban by sponsoring Glasgow and Edinburgh ...

Bath have signed Samoa international back-row Alafoti Fa"osiliva.

Bath have signed Samoa international back-row Alafoti Fa’osiliva.

The 27-year-old, who previously played for Toulouse and Bristol, will make his first appearance on Thursday in the Premiership Rugby Sevens at Kingsholm.

“I’m really excited to be coming to Bath, and can’t wait to get started,” he told the club website.

“It’s a great form of the game, and one I’m obviously quite familiar with, so it’s a perfect way for me to get my Bath career underway.”

The back-rower has also played for Samoa in seven-a-side rugby and was nominated for the IRB International Sevens Player of the Year in 2010.

Bath have signed Samoa international back-row Alafoti Fa"osiliva.

Rugby League - O"Brien fit to play

The 21-year-old, on loan from Warrington, was forced off after a late shoulder charge from Scott Taylor in last week’s derby defeat of Wigan.

O’Brien’s availability will be especially welcomed by coach Nathan Brown with the half-back also important for his goalkicking.

Brown said: “He was a bit groggy the next day and he didn’t train in the latter part of last week.

“He had his time off but he has trained now and he is fine.”

Brown is not anticipating many changes for the game in France but utility man Lance Hohaia could return after being left out against Wigan following a spell on the sidelines.

Brown added: “All the guys who played in the Wigan game have trained and come through fine.

“Lance is fit and available now. He’s definitely a possibility.

“He was in the 19 for Wigan but he’d missed that bit of footy and we probably went for guys that were more match-ready.

“But he’s training really well and is ready for an opportunity.”

Rugby League - O"Brien fit to play

Scotland sides sign record sponsorship deal

Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh have both received a cash windfall after they announced a new four-year shirt sponsorship deal with BT Sport.

The sponsorship has been described as a “substantial multi-million pound” deal and will see the clubs wear BT’s logo on their shirts. The deal also sees BT sidestep Sky Sports’ ban on screening its rival broadcaster’s adverts as both the Warriors and Edinburgh will feature in the Heineken Cup and the RaboDirect PRO12, competitions which will feature on Sky next year.

The announcement of the deal follows an Ofcom ruling last month which rejected BT’s complaints over Sky’s refusal to promote its new rivals on its own channels.

When Mark Watson, CEO of TV for BT Retail, was asked whether the sponsorship deal was a ploy to scupper Sky Sports’ ban on advertising their channel, he said: “The RaboDirect (PRO12) will be covered by Sky and other broadcasters too in the next few years and that broadcaster exposure is one of the elements – but not the only one – in what is quite a broad deal with Scottish Rugby.

“This is a sponsorship deal, not a broadcasting deal. We will look in the future at all opportunities to broadcast sports as they come up and if an opportunity comes up to broadcast (the Scottish) rugby teams then of course we will look at it.”

Mark Dodson, chief executive of the Scottish Rugby Union – which owns both Edinburgh and Glasgow – hinted the deal would see extra money be made available to strengthen both squads. He said: “This is the most lucrative shirt sponsorship deal we have ever signed – by some margin. It dwarfs any deal we have signed in the past.

“We will always be looking for the best players possible. If that means the player budget rises as a consequence, that is what will happen. I’ve given both coaches the reassurance that if there is a top-class player out there that they want, who wants to come to Scotland, we will fund it.”

Scotland sides sign record sponsorship deal

Hogg eyes Lions role in 2017

Stuart Hogg has set his sights on a Lions Test cap in 2017

Stuart Hogg is making winning a full British and Irish Lions Test cap his main priority for the next four years after he was forced to take a seat in the stand for the tourists’ 2-1 series win Down Under this summer.

The 21-year-old Glasgow full-back was the youngest man in Warren Gatland’s squad for the victorious tour of Australia.

But the Scotland international was denied a place in the 23-man matchday line-up for any of the three Tests as Wales number 15 Leigh Halfpenny kicked the Lions towards their first series triumph in 16 years.

The team are not due to set sail again until their New Zealand tour in 2017, but Hogg will do everything he can to make sure his place is booked.

He said: “I had nothing to lose down there. I wasn’t expected to be in a starting position but in the end I played five of the 10 games.

“So I’m happy enough with how it went. Obviously I was disappointed not to be involved in the Test teams but when you are sitting behind the man (Halfpenny) who gets named man of the series, it takes a bit of the pain away.

“When the team was named for the last match of the tour and I found out I wasn’t going to play in the final Test, it just made me all the hungrier to be involved next time.

“It’s four years away and I’ll concentrate on Glasgow and Scotland until it comes around. But getting a Test slot is my main target.”

Hogg eyes Lions role in 2017

Woodward: Wales can win 2015 World Cup

Former England coach Sir Clive Woodward claims Wales have the potential to win the World Cup in 2015.

Wales find themselves in the same pool as hosts England and Australia but with two Six Nations titles in as many years, Warren Gatland’s men are the form northern hemisphere side at the moment. Their current dominance of European rugby was further emphasised by them having 10 players in the starting XV for the final British Irish Lions’ Test in Australia.

Woodward coached England to World Cup glory in 2003 and he has tipped Wales to impress in Pool A. “If Wales field their first XV, they are potential World Cup winners,” Woodward told Wales Online. “Wales have not got the depth of options available to England, but they do have the quality.

“When they are at their strongest, they are a match for any team in the world. Their players were crucial to the Lions and I thought skipper Sam Warburton was amazing.”

Australia are currently finding their feet under new coach Ewen McKenzie and he will hope his team re-find some cohesion after they were outplayed by the Lions in the final Test. For England, they have 23 matches until the first match in the World Cup and Stuart Lancaster said last week he is fully aware of what awaits his side when they head into the global gathering, which is hosted on home soil.

Lancaster is currently focused on seeking to emulate the All Blacks’ attacking philosophy but Woodward says England must start getting results rather than talking about long-term development. “Stuart is doing an excellent job and has a good team developing,” Woodward added. “And the Lions experiences this summer of coaches Andy Farrell and Graham Rowntree will benefit them hugely.

“But the World Cup will be incredibly competitive in the qualifying pool, particularly for England who are drawn with Wales and Australia. It’s no longer about development, it’s now about results. The England forwards look very impressive but it’s time for our backline to step up and start firing on all cylinders.”

Woodward: Wales can win 2015 World Cup