Wednesday, August 19, 2009

"It's just not British..."


Here's a story that caught my eye - Bloodgate. If you don't follow British sport, and in particular Rugby, you may have missed this one.

Dean Richards, a legend of English rugby, was banned from coaching for 3 years after accepting responsibility for a 'fake' blood injury by his team Harlequins against Leinster in a Heineken Cup tie in April. Long story short, it was a close game and winger Tom Williams faked injury to allow fly-half Nick Evans, a drop goal specialist, to return to the field late in the game. The laws of Rugby allow for a substituted player to return to the game as cover for an injury...

The 'quins physio (now working with England...well not any more I guess) has been banned for 2 years and Williams 4 months. These are pretty substantial bans, plus the club has been fined over £259,000 or more than $400,000 which is a significant amount for a Rugby club.

The greater realisation that this is a wider issue - Cheating is such a dirty word - has now hit the IRB (International Rugby Board) and the RFU (English Rubgy Football Union) who will no doubt be keeping a closer eye in the future. And the old saying that 'cheats never prosper' held true, as Leinster held on to win the game 6-5 and ultimately won the whole competition.

Here's the view of former England player, and now TV pundit, Jeremy Guscott

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/8207752.stm



No comments:

Post a Comment