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Resigned, But Not Clear Why.
By Glen Leat
June 2 2009
Once again Bath Rugby is in the headlines for the wrong reasons, with the resignations of Lipman, Crockett and Higgins. The naming of these three players, after much speculation over recent weeks, appears to give justification for commenting on their actions. However, we still don’t know what they’ve done and further action may follow so we still have to be careful with our comments.
The three players in question have raised further confusion with their recent statement:

"During the course of the last few weeks it has been made become clear to us that our position within the club has been made is untenable," read the statement. "We have made every effort to work with the club to resolve our differences. Sadly, we have been unable to do so.

"It has been suggested in sections of the media that we have either missed or refused on three occasions to provide samples for anti-doping purposes, this is simply untrue. Anonymous sources have also made allegations against us to the club. We completely refute these allegations, which are both false and defamatory.

"We believe that these scurrilous and unsubstantiated allegations are not only proving to be damaging to our own careers but to rugby as a whole. Regrettably, for legal reasons we are unable to comment further at this stage although what we can say is that we will do everything possible in order to clear our names.'

and all this will do is keep this story running for many months.

Whether the statement is:

  • part of a tactic to secure compensation from the club,
  • intended to influence any future RFU investigation,
  • hoping to illicit sympathy from the public,
  • simply the words of three frustrated sportsmen who are innocent of the accusations

is only known by a few people. However, all of us would do well to comment on the known facts but be careful of any speculation that may form part of any legal action taking place in the future. The announcement of the resignations should not be used as permission to say anything and everything one fancies about the players involved.

Whatever the real story behind this whole sorry affair we cannot get away from the fact that Bath Rugby appears to attract trouble and the management of the club has to understand why this is the case.

In recent years we've seen other Bath players hit the headlines with various court cases and we thought we'd hit rock-bottom with the Matt Stevens affair. Has this most recent incident taken the club to an all time low?

This leads me to ask whether the city of Bath creates some sort of Bermuda Triangle phenomenon that changes the personalities of certain top rugby players or is it simply the fact that close proximity of the players' living arrangements creates some sort of university campus mentality?

Questionable behaviour by rugby players has historically be reserved for tours with the age-old  saviour, "What happens on tour, stays on tour". There is also the adage about not dumping on your own doorstep. Perhaps this was acceptable in the days of amateur rugby when high spirits was part of a club's ethos. However we've moved on from this and professionalism has to mean being professional in all aspects of life, not just on the rugby field.

If Lipman, Crockett and Higgins are innocent of any wrong doing then I hope they are able to prove to all parties that they are undeserving of the reputations they have recently earned. However if they are not innocent I trust that one day they will set aside their own needs and reflect on the disappointment many people feel about how this event has dragged the proud name of Bath Rugby through another scandal.

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