Posted by After three long months the ongoing saga at Cardiff Rugby involving Director of Rugby Dai Young came to an end on Monday with a statement from the club confirming the mutual termination of the Aberdare man’s contract.
It draws to a close yet another unsavoury chapter in the club’s recent history and leaves the Blue and Blacks searching for an eighth person or duo to lead the rugby department at the Arms Park since Phil Davies was appointed in 2012.
From the outset of this I will be honest that I do not know the exact nature of the complaints made against Young, other than them being linked to bullying in the workplace, nor do I know if they are true or not, but I can outline the story of the last three months to the best of my knowledge.
A complaint was made to the board of Cardiff Rugby ahead of the final game of the season at Judgement Day, this was followed by other complaints over the following days. The complaints were of a serious enough nature to suspend Young and appoint an independent barrister to carry out an investigation.
Unfortunately this investigation was hampered by the barrister suffering from an illness, and the unavailability of some individuals due to holidays being taken in the off-season. When the investigation did get underway it was lengthened to speak to a number of people who it was felt should have been spoken to in the initial part of the process.
Ultimately it was found that there was insufficient evidence to prove or disprove the allegations, in part due to some of the complainants not engaging with the process, however by this point too much water had gone under the bridge for Young to return as Director of Rugby and a mutual termination of his contract has been agreed. I understand this involves payments worth 18 months of the remaining two years on his contract.
Reflecting on that I do not feel that the club could have handled the situation any differently. Having previously been very critical of the way the Cory Hill incident was dealt with, and the absolute disasterclass that was egg-gate, Cardiff suspending Young pending a full independent investigation was undoubtedly the correct course of action.
The delays in reaching a conclusion are frustrating and unfortunate, but ultimately the outcome is probably for the best, even though it is a sad one and leaves no winners from it all. We will probably never know whether the allegations are true or not.
There are questions around those who made complaints and then chose not to engage with the independent investigation, and especially around the organisational culture at Cardiff that allows many to act with a complete lack of personal responsibility. This has been ongoing separately from this incident and has lingered for too many years, filtering from the top down and being seen at times in this process.
Now though a line has been drawn in the sand, Dai Young has departed and the club must act swiftly to get a new coaching structure in place, a squad together for the new season, an on-field plan for the next five years, and an off-field plan to address the cultural issues at the Arms Park, including multiple changes at both playing and senior management level, whether that be in attitude or personnel.
Supporters of the Blue and Blacks will be watching closely…
Cardiff Rugby Life 