I bloody said so didn't I

So – investigations have taken place, hands have been held up and Deano has ended up with a three year ban. I can’t say I’m surprised, when I first commented on the whole sordid incident I knew it was only a mater of time before all involved got there acts together to sort it out. I’m pleased for Tom Williams and the reduction of his 12 month ban to 4 months. He was merely a pawn in whole farcical episode and didn’t deserve to be left in the wilderness for as long as initially imposed.

BUT – one thing still angers me about this. I don’t just have a bee in my bonnet, oh no, I’ve got a hacking great hornet in my under-crackers. Dean Richards has come out and said he feels his ban is disproportionate. WHAT? That could quite possibly be the biggest load of cod-shit I’ve heard since Jade Goody (god rest her filthy soul) said she was going to finish the London Marathon after a 20 minute training run and a curry. Alright, the man is an England legend and has a place in most of our hearts as a player and some as a coach. But Quins out and out cheated. Imagine if Nick Evans had slotted the drop goal and Leinster (the eventual bloody winners) got knocked out. There’d be fucking lynchings. The fact that Quins lost the game doesn’t matter one iota. The processes and decisions that lead to the ‘blood-gate’ incident were exactly the same and Richards has been dealt with accordingly.

Look at the affair with the Bath players. Matt Stevens was banned for two years for taking a class A substance. Whilst I would never defend the actions of the Bath lads I’d argue the whole affair with Quins is far worse and – as long as they are thrown out of the Heineken Cup this year – they have received a punishment fitting the crime. Quins, with Deano at the helm, have consciously brought the game into disrepute. In the middle of a match they took illegal actions in an attempt to win the game. Old Matty S had a drug problem off the field which spilled into his career, it’s not as if he was injecting nandrolone into his neck at half time in order to boss the scrums. Disproportionate Deano? Fuck off.

Deano should do the honourable thing

Back in April I was watching the Quins Vs Leinster game unfold in complete disbelief. Disbelief at the luck, or lack of it, suffered by Quins. To lose Nick Evans was a blow of the highest order. His replacement, Chris Malone, a solid performer but more of a Premiership journeyman than an out and out match winner could do the job, I thought, but it would be a big ask. Not that it mattered. In minutes he was off as well leaving Tom Williams, a winger, to salvage the result.

To their credit Quins remained in touching distance, until, five minutes from time when a drop goal was needed to win it, the bombshell hit. Williams walks off, blood all over his mouth, and Evans is brought back on. Then, the moment which completely threw the spanner in the shit. Williams winks.

You bell-end. Why wink? If he hadn’t made this simplest of errors Quins may have got away with it. As a result the club have been investigated and found guilty of cheating, slapped with a £215,000 fine and Williams has been banned for 12 months.

I have to agree with Damian Hopley, Williams’ punishment is disproportionate and unfair especially as Dean Richards, the man who would be in control of any underhand tactics, has got away scot free leaving the fledgling Tom Williams facing a career threatening break.

Williams cannot and should not be singled out. Only a complete dick head would believe he acted alone. When Evans was brought off, the substitution was registered as tactical. TACTICAL? His leg was hanging off. To describe this as tactical is, at best, insulting. Of course, what it meant was Evans could return to the pitch as a blood replacement which he did after Williams left the field with the fabricated cut to his mouth. This in itself also leads me to believe that Williams couldn’t have acted alone. With 5 minutes to go in a match as tight as that, the last thing you are thinking about is, how am I going to cheat to get out of this? You’re concentrating on the next move, the next phase, how to get the team into a winning position. Williams must have been ordered to do the necessary to get Evans back on.

Whoever it was at Quins who instigated this charade, the buck stops with Dean Richards. To be fair, Harlequins have held their hands up and said the acquittal of Richards and the physios on misconduct charges was inconsistent and maybe there is still time for Deano to do the honourable thing, he was an up front and honest (in the Jim Telfer sense) player, it’s time for him to be an honest coach. What ever happens, what doesn’t change is the fact that a young man’s career now sits in the balance because of the decisions of others. Tom Williams I feel for you.