Scottish Rugby has apologized to the family of former Scotland international Siobhan Cattigan, more than a year after announcing an ‘inquiry process’ into the circumstances surrounding her death.
Cattigan, who won 19 caps for her country, died in November 2021 after a series of traumatic brain injuries.
Her family believes their daughter suffered undetected damage to her brain, causing a “catastrophic decline” in her health and leading to her untimely death.
They say the SRU has failed them and the sport’s governing body has been negligent in its duty of care to it, despite desperate pleas for help.
At Scottish Rugby’s AGM, chairman John McGuigan finally admitted they had ‘let the family down’ and accepted they should have ‘handled this situation better’.
Siobhan Cattigan died suddenly in 2021, with no cause of death given at the time
Questions have been raised about Scottish Rugby’s inability to support sustained brain injuries
Scottish Rugby revealed at last year’s AGM that a ‘process’ was being undertaken to investigate the tragedy after the Cattigans announced legal action.
Despite repeated calls from the family for an independent investigation into their daughter’s death, nothing ever came of it. Instead, an internal review was carried out by law firm Pinsent Masons, at a cost of £150,000. At no point in the intervening period have Scottish Rugby issued a public apology, nor have the Cattigans been directly contacted by the powers that be at Murrayfield to express their condolences.
McGuigan, who was only appointed in June this year, said he wanted to “apologise wholeheartedly for any pain we have caused Siobhan during her time at Scottish Rugby and to her family and loved ones following her passing.”
He continued: “While Scottish Rugby had no intention of causing distress to the family through our actions, it is clear that we should have handled this tragic situation better. We have listened and heeded the lessons and, in Siobhan’s memory, we have committed to making changes to ensure we are a better organization in the future.”
McGuigan said that after being invited to the Cattigan home and hearing a ‘very personal account of Siobhan’s time at Scottish Rugby’, he wanted to ‘say sorry’ on behalf of Scottish Rugby.
“Her parents, Neil and Morven,” he continued, “explained to me that joining the Scotland squad in 2018 was an incredibly proud moment for Siobhan and her family. However, during her time as an international player with Scottish Rugby until her death and beyond, her family and friends strongly believe that Scottish Rugby should have done more to support Siobhan and her memory.”
He added that they “took responsibility for Scottish Rugby’s handling of certain elements surrounding Siobhan’s funeral, including the failure to communicate the family’s wishes to each player, which meant that some of Siobhan’s teammates were not were given the opportunity to attend her funeral. We have also let the family down by not contacting the family directly or visiting after Siobhan’s death to express our condolences.”
When asked at the press conference after the AGM why Scottish Rugby had not contacted the family, chief executive Mark Dodson said: ‘I said when we looked at the fact-finding activity we wanted to get to the facts. We did not know the facts at the time. We now know the facts and we now know what happened and understand where we were.
“John was approached by a third party to have that conversation with the Cattigans and once we understood the facts and felt comfortable with what was in there, and what we believe happened, it was appropriate for John to to meet family. John issued a lengthy apology today based on the things he heard and felt it was necessary to say.”
When asked why he didn’t at least call the Cattigans after their daughter’s death, Dodson insisted, “Even from a human perspective, we are limited in what we can say.” We understand it now, we know the facts and we are comfortable with the facts. The approach was taken by John and John followed up on behalf of the board.’
He denied that there appeared to be conflicting reasons for ultimately issuing an apology.
“It’s not confusing at all,” Dodson said. “We wanted to get the facts, we felt comfortable with those facts. The apology was made today based on the facts we now know and what we felt was appropriate to say.”
However, McGuigan said: ‘In the apology that I read out earlier, we actually say that we should have gone to the family earlier. We say that, that’s part of the apology. To your point, we should have met the family earlier. As hard as that was, who knows? But we should have done that anyway.’
McGuigan, whose arrival is seen as a breath of fresh air at Scottish Rugby, was adamant that there were “other events” that “should have been handled differently by the organisation.” This also has to do with the way we referred to Siobhan and we recognize that Siobhan is also one of “our people”.
“Siobhan’s family and friends appreciated that both Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby honored Siobhan’s life as a Scottish international player.
“Scottish Rugby should have addressed it though; among other things, the tribute paid at Murrayfield ahead of the 2023 Six Nations match against Ireland is more sensitive. We acknowledge the family’s criticism that the tribute should have taken place much earlier, with Siobhan’s crest being laid down and held when players from both teams were on the pitch.
A tribute to Cattigan’s life was held at Murrayfield before Scotland’s home match against Ireland
“As Scottish Rugby we are fully committed to supporting the family’s work to preserve Siobhan’s memory.
‘During my meetings with Siobhan’s family, we discussed the range of actions we could take together to preserve Siobhan’s memory. This discussion is still ongoing.’
McGuigan said there was no discussion with the family about withdrawing any legal action, but he stressed that Scottish Rugby wanted to do ‘much more in memory of Siobhan, so we have work to do to ensure Siobhan’s life remains safe’. and what she has achieved during that period is celebrated. Obviously there’s a civil lawsuit going on, so we have to take that into account as well, so from that perspective I think this is still ongoing.
“From my perspective, it is important that we made contact with the family, and I was very grateful that Mr. and Mrs. Cattigan were willing to meet with me given the circumstances. That wasn’t easy, but they did it. We learned a lot about how they felt about the situation and hopefully some of that was reflected in today’s statement.”
