Munster's Keith Earls has stated that he has "unreservedly apologised" to Fraser Brown over the tackle which saw him red carded in his side's game against Glasgow Warriors.
The Champions Cup fixture took place in Thomond Park on October 22nd, the first game that the province played in the wake of the sudden death of Anthony Foley earlier in the month.
Earls was sent off after 19 minutes for his tackle on Fraser, but drew criticism from Glasgow for his reaction on the pitch and in a press conference ahead of Ireland's game against Australia at the end of November.
Clearly angry, Earls gestured and shouted at the Glasgow players as he walked off the pitch, and later said that he wasn't going to apologise for the tackle.
"I suppose the only thing I do apologise for — I don’t apologise for anything else — is kicking the bottles on the side of the pitch," Earls said. "I wouldn’t like to see a young lad doing that at underage or some young lad at Thomond Park. I suppose I’ve been waiting to be interviewed to apologise for that. I don’t apologise for the rest of it."
Image: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne
He added that he felt Brown "could have done a bit more to save the impact," but in a statement on Monday, Earls fully acknowledged that it had been a "poorly worded" interview and that he wanted to clear the air on the matter.
In his statement, Earls said that "the incident in question has rumbled on for a number of weeks," adding that it had "escalated because of my own doing."
"In a poorly worded interview on my part I failed to acknowledge that I apologised to Fraser Brown for my actions during the Munster v Glasgow Warriors game," said Earls. "I also failed to confirm that I acknowledged I had committed an act of foul play, and fully accepted the corresponding sanction, apologising to Glasgow Warriors and EPCR for my conduct."
Ealrs added that he had been in contact with the EPCR subsequently to apologise, stating: "I have also addressed the misunderstanding directly with Fraser and unreservedly apologised again for my actions and the wording I used during the interview.
"I hope this paints a clearer picture for all and I believe it is important October 22nd in Thomond Park is remembered for the right reasons and not for something I deeply regret."
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