Alan Quinlan slams ‘tone deaf’ Munster who should have ‘not gone near’ Roger Randle
Munster legend Alan Quinlan and Chiefs coach Roger Randle.
Munster legend Alan Quinlan has accused the Irish province of being “tone deaf” over the appointment of former All Black Roger Randle.
On Thursday, it was announced that the attack coach would not be joining Clayton McMillan’s men, two weeks after he was named as Mike Prendergast’s successor.
Supporters were left furious over Randle’s appointment due to a rape allegation in 1997 when he was touring South Africa as a player with the Hurricanes.
He was charged and, although the complainant later withdrew those charges, she always stood by her accusation.
‘A cloud over this whole situation’
“I said this a couple of weeks ago when the controversy came out after the announcement and I said: ‘It’s a very precarious position’, and, as I said at the time, I don’t know Roger Randle and I’ve never met him,” Quinlan told the VMTV Rugby Pod.
“Without getting into the nuts and bolts of guilty, not guilty, the whole thing is something Munster should not have gone near.
“It’s nothing personal against Roger Randle because you are innocent until proven guilty – I do believe in that – but there’s a cloud there over this whole situation.
“I just think in Munster’s current climate – announcing redundancies, financial pressures, the team hadn’t been playing well up to that point, there had been worries and concerns about making the top-eight and making Europe – it was a little bit tone deaf.”
Ex-All Black’s move to Munster is cancelled after backlash to historical rape allegation
Randle has always maintained his innocence and Quinlan stated that “in some sense you could say it’s unfair” on the New Zealander, who has not been convicted of a crime, but the former Ireland international insisted that it was still wrong for Munster to try and hire him.
“It’s nothing personal against Roger Randle. This guy has not been convicted of the allegation that was made, but there’s a cloud hanging over this whole situation,” he said.
“We’ve seen that the world is a different place now. We’ve seen some issues in Irish rugby around sexual assaults, allegations and trials the last couple of years. It’s somewhere Munster should not have gone.
“Munster should have stayed away from it and it was a bit tone deaf.
“We shouldn’t have gone there, it should have been just appoint somebody else. Don’t go there, don’t alienate the fans.”
McMillan’s defence of Randle and resignations
McMillan, who worked with Randle at the Chiefs, came out to bat for the attack coach following the backlash, but it was decided that the deal should be cancelled.
The initial call to appoint him led to resignations from the province’s Professional Game Board, with former players Billy Holland, Mick O’Driscoll and Killian Keane all stepping down, and Quinlan was shocked that Munster did not foresee the reaction this would cause.
“How people couldn’t see beforehand that there was the potential for this to happen is beyond me. Common sense should have prevailed here and Munster should have done their own thing and not gone down the road,” he said.
“They’ve got to get their house in order now. Roger Randle not coming now is something that’s the right thing. Whether it’s the IRFU or Munster, it’s going to cost them.”
