Neil Francis (rugby union)

Neil Francis is a retired Irish rugby union lock forward and number eight. He played for Blackrock College, London Irish, Old Belvedere, Leinster and won 36 caps between 1987 and 1996 for Ireland.^[2]

Controversy

On February 16, 2014, Francis sparked controversy when he claimed that “gay people do not have any interest in sport” and that “only a tiny percentage are actively involved in professional sports of any kind".

The player-turned-pundit was speaking on Newstalk's Off the Ball and when asked by presenter Joe Molloy if he believed the percentage of gay people involved in sport was lower than the 10 per cent which is the estimate of the general population who are gay, he said he suspected “that nowhere near 10 per cent. I would say in the smaller margin of 1 per cent”. ^[3]

References

Four Home Unions XV – 1990 The Skilball Trophy
Forwards	B C Moore  England M Griffiths  Wales P J Ackford in bio  England D F Cronin in teamsheet  Scotland N P Francis  Ireland J Jeffrey  Scotland P J Winterbottom  England N P Mannion  Ireland J A Probyn  England K S Milne  Scotland D J Turnbull  Scotland D M B Sole  Scotland
Backs	S M Bates  England A G Hastings  Scotland A G Stanger  Scotland W D C Carling  England J C Guscott  England R Underwood  England C R Andrew  England R J Hill  England C H Chalmers  Scotland
Coach	I R McGeechan  Scotland