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Jamie Cudmore sacked by Canada after posting 'unacceptable' tweets
By Liam Heagney
Jamie Cudmore has been sacked by Rugby Canada following a series of since-deleted tweets critical of the Canadian women’s sevens team who were competing at the Olympics in Tokyo where they missed out on reaching the quarter-finals.
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Sevens veteran Charity Williams shared a screengrab of several tweets from the account of Cudmore, the 42-year-old men’s and academy development coach who was a veteran of 43 Test caps before he finished up in November 2016. He had been prominent in the media in recent years with his stories regarding concussion.
Williams referred to a formal complaint filed by 37 current and former team members in January under Rugby Canada’s bullying and harassment policy. An independent review in April led to head coach John Tait stepping down, insisting he had done nothing wrong.
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However, the investigation resulted in Rugby Canada updating their harassment and bullying policy and they have now acted following Cudmore’s social media postings. One of the since-deleted tweets from his account read: “Karma is a bitch! #Survivorsmyass.”
A Rugby Canada statement read: “Rugby Canada has relieved Jamie Cudmore of his coaching duties with the Canadian rugby development academy and men’s rugby team effective immediately. This decision comes as a result of a review of recent social media postings which were unacceptable and in breach of organisation policy.
https://twitter.com/JNCudmore/status/1421130093255041029
“Rugby Canada’s organisational values remain paramount to the work we do. As previously announced, Rugby Canada remains committed to a detailed, independent review of all performance rugby programs starting next month with a goal of positioning teams for success in supportive, inclusive environments.”
Rugby Canada CEO Allen Vansen added: “We are taking this matter very seriously and concluded that immediate action must be taken.” Rugby Canada board chair Sally Dennis said: “Rugby Canada’s core values, including integrity and respect, must be exemplified in all our rugby programmes and we are determined to promote a healthy, inclusive culture now and in future.”
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In calling out Cudmore’s critical posts on social media, Williams had written: “I have to sit here, once again, and share what we have been going through as a team, the consistent hatred we have received from people in our own organisation. I’m only sharing because this is what we have been dealing with for months.
“From private texts to public stalking online and in person. The bullying and harassment that we have received for coming forward is outrageous and scary at times. This is the reason we called for an internal investigation because we haven’t been safe.”
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