The 28-year-old Australia and Queensland Reds full-back had signed a formal agreement to come to Ireland, but reneged on the deal.

“I feel personally let down, because I know the boy of old. I’ve been a good friend of his since he first started playing in Sydney.

“It was his agent who phoned us in the first instance and not Munster phoning him. Latham later rang me to say how much he was looking forward to coming here.

“We could pursue legal action, but what’s the point if he doesn’t want to play with us.

“I hope I’ve not been used as conduit in all of this. Presumably he’s been under pressure from people involved in Queensland and Australia to stay.

“I feel terrible about it in a personal sense and yet maybe he’s better off not joining, because the beauty of this Munster set up is that we can look each other in the eye and be honest with one another,” he told the Echo.

The furious coach sympathised with Munster CEO Garrett Fitzgerald for the amount of time the whole affair has taken up.

“It’s disappointing for him, because this thing has been on the go for the past three or four months.

“Latham’s decision to stay has put us back in finalising plans for next season, but we’re getting there.”

Latham, who has scored 17 tries in 32 Tests, hasn’t signed on the dotted line for the Reds.

“We’ve still a few issues to iron out, but I’m confident he will put pen to paper this week,” said the Super 12 side’s chief executive Jeff Miller in a statement.

The player is currently out injured with a rib injury, but could be fit in time for Australia’s first game of the season against Ireland in Perth on June 7.

Latham came under pressure from the giant drinks company, Castlemaine-Perkins, in the run-up to the Reds’ final game of the season recently.

They mounted a “Don’t Go Latho” campaign in a bid to keep the star full-back at home, putting up signage changing the name of the famous XXXX Hill to “Don’t Go Latho Hill.”