Munster say they are confident that they have taken steps to ensure the accidental sending of a private coaching document will never happen again.
CEO Garrett Fitzgerald and head coach Anthony Foley addressed the issue at length today at Thomond Park and said after seeking legal advice they reported the incident to the Data Protection Commissioner.
After then conducting a thorough internal investigation into the sending of the email, Fitzgerald said he is satisfied it was accidental and that they have taken the necessary steps to ensure it won’t occur again.
“There was an accidental dispatch of an email on Wednesday (August) the 27th,” said Fitzgerald. “Within in a very short space of time, all the recipients were notified – I think within an hour – and every effort, as would be normal, was made to retrieve the data on the email.
“Following that, there was a full review of what happened and we’re completely satisfied it was a human error, and we have taken all the steps necessary to address the issue and to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“For us as an organisation, confidentiality is a very serious thing in this business, a people business. We fully comply with all employment law, so we take confidentiality seriously and I suppose the focus is on us moving forward positively. We have taken all the correct legal and professional steps to handle it correctly,” Fitzgerald said.
Foley also said he was satisfied there was nothing malicious in the sending of the email, but that everyone has learned a tough lesson in the dangers of online behaviour.
“If you write things down, you have to be prepared to stand over it, be prepared that someone’s going to see it, be prepared that it could make the media. We understand that in this game.
“It’s unfortunate that it’s been out in the public domain and unfortunate that we are talking about it today. It’s something that we do behind closed doors with a view to making us better. Hopefully we will see that,” said Foley.
Meanwhile Leinster’s Matt O’Connor has issued an injury update ahead of the visit to Scotstoun.
Dan Leavy suffered a medial strain to his right knee in the pre-season friendly defeat to Ulster last Saturday. The injury, while not as bad as first suspected, will still keep the young UCD flanker out of action for between six to eight weeks.
Jordi Murphy is also expected to be sidelined for up to 12 weeks having undergone surgery on a troublesome shoulder injury that had caused him some discomfort during the run in last season.
Finally, Dave Kearney and Richardt Strauss - suffering from long term knee and hamstring injuries respectively - continue to be monitored on a daily basis but both players are recovering well and are on schedule for a return to fitness within the next few months.
