Dean Richards: Tom Williams asked for cut to cover up Bloodgate scandal
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Friday August 21 2009
Disgraced former Harlequins director of rugby Dean Richards has claimed that wing Tom Williams asked that his mouth should be cut to try to cover up the fake-blood scandal.
On Monday, Richards was banned for three years for ordering Williams to fake a blood injury in Harlequins' Heineken Cup quarter-final against Leinster, and orchestrating the subsequent cover-up.
On Saturday the Daily Telegraph disclosed that Williams claimed he was cut in the mouth after leaving the field in a fresh witness statement that he presented to a European Rugby Cup disciplinary committee. Williams named the club official that he alleged cut him in his statement, and ERC will publish details of the allegation in its full judgement in the coming days.
Richards said on Wednesday night that he did not know about the cutting incident until eight days after the match and alleged that Williams had agreed to falsify his evidence at the original hearing.
Richards, who professed himself "mortified" at his role, said: "I have always been passionate about rugby and in the dying minutes of that Heineken Cup quarter-final – a stage Harlequins had never reached before – I allowed my passion for the club to compromise my judgment.
"I ordered a blood substitution to be made using fake blood. Thankfully the substitution did not affect the outcome of the game. Some eight days later I was told by Tom Williams that, in the heat of the moment and at his direction, he had his lip cut to make it appear as if there had been a real injury if anyone asked to look at it.
"Believing this to be true, I felt a managerial duty and sense of loyalty to safeguard the position of those involved. From then on, with the agreement of Tom Williams, I suggested the fabrication of a story which led to us all withholding the true facts, a position that was obviously wrong."
Legal representatives of Dr Wendy Chapman, the Harlequins match-day doctor cleared by ERC, have consistently declined to comment when asked by the Daily Telegraph if she was responsible for cutting Williams. The General Medical Council said it would not confirm or deny if it was investigating the allegation.
Steph Brennan, the former Harlequins physiotherapist banned for two years for his part in the scandal, has denied that the allegation relates to him.
The Daily Telegraph understands that ERC may consider bringing fresh charges once the disciplinary panel's judgement is published.
The Rugby Football Union and Premier Rugby are also preparing to investigate four previous matches in which Harlequins faked blood injuries, but they have not yet been told which games were involved. ERC has contacted Harlequins demanding more information about the matches.
Harlequins chief executive Mark Evans has claimed the faking of blood injuries is commonplace in the game, but said it was no excuse for the club's conduct. "The fact that it [faking injuries] may not be uncommon is no excuse," he said.
"It is like when you are speeding. You are maybe doing 90mph and four cars go past you, but you get the ticket – that is no defence. When you get caught, all the shades of grey disappear into black and white."
© Telegraph.co.uk
- Paul Kelso
