We reported earlier this week about UC-Irvine being deemed ineligible for the Pacific Mountain West playoffs for playing an ineligible player in two league games.

One of the most puzzling parts of the story was UC-Irvine coach Vince McLeod calling out other coaches/administrators in the Southern California and Pacific Mountain West hierarchy for operating with a conflict of interests, while McLeod himself was doing the same, as the commissioner of the Pacific Mountain West, a conference that is still being governed by Southern California.

When USA Rugby denied the eligibility waivers of two players CIPPed with UC-Irvine (they didn't attend the university) McLeod did not share that information with the rest of his conference, and he did not take action against his own team, which had played an ineligible player in league matches while his eligibility was still pending.

Turns out, not only did he not share that information, he actively hid it. The e-mail containing the ruling was sent to McLeod, as commissioner of the league in which the players in question played, and Jim Wilson, former Univ. San Diego coach and interim commissioner of the Pacific Mountain West.

Wilson prodded McLeod to share the ruling with other members of the Pacific Mountain West, but he did not. In an exchange of e-mails provided to RUGBYMag, McLeod lied to Wilson, saying both players whose waivers were denied were second-side players. As we know now, that’s untrue.

McLeod also told Wilson he’d share the information with other interested parties, but didn’t. Wilson gave McLeod the better part of a month to tell the conference about the USA Rugby ruling before telling Southern California DI college rep Kevin Battle himself.