RFU Orders Game-wide Review Over Blood Scandal

The Rugby Football Union has ordered a ‘game-wide taskforce’ to review the practice of blood substitutions following the scandal surrounding the use of fake blood by a Harlequins player during a Heineken Cup clash last season.

Although the RFU decided to take now further action against Harlequins, after banning both team coach Dean Richards who subsequently resigned and wing Tom Williams, the game-wide review will establish how prevalent such situations have become.

Richards resigned from his position at Quins on 8th August and admitted his guilt during a 14-hour independent committee meeting in Glasgow on 17th August.

The former England number eight received a three-year worldwide ban for his part in the affair, which occurred at the quarter-final stage of the Heineken Cup in April.

Williams, who received an initial one-year ban reduced to four months on appeal, feigned injury to allow fly-half and goal-kicker Nick Evans to return to the field with five minutes remaining.

Television cameras picked up Williams winking towards the bench as he was helped from the field, with ‘blood’ smeared around his mouth.

Physiotherapist Steph Brennan was also handed a two-year ban, and the Premiership side were fined £213,000.

The investigation into that incident uncovered evidence of four similar offences by Harlequins players in other matches – three times with fake blood gauzes and once, as with Williams, with a blood capsule.

However RFU disciplinary chief Judge Jeff Blackett ruled that neither the players involved nor the club would suffer further sanctions, noting that the practice was not limited to Harlequins.

After reviewing the evidence from European Rugby Cup (ERC), organisers of the Heineken Cup, and Harlequins’ internal review, Blackett said: “First, on each occasion the decision to use fake blood was made by the team management and not the players themselves.

RFU chief executive Francis Baron said: ‘As the governing body for rugby in England, some of the evidence disclosed to ERC and Judge Blackett, alongside other high profile issues in the professional game, meant the RFU had to act.

‘We will be setting up a game-wide taskforce to review all issues associated with recent events.

‘The review will be wide-ranging, thorough and the recommendations in the best interests of the whole game. Further details on members of the taskforce and its terms of reference will be announced very shortly.’