One of rugby’s most infamous chapters was the ‘Bloodgate’ scandal of 2009 where, in a Heineken Cup match between Harlequins and Leinster, Quins winger Tom Williams used a blood capsule to feign injury, allowing flyhalf and goal-kicker Nick Evans, to return to the field at a crucial moment in the match.
In the wash up, among a raft of sanctions and suspensions, Williams was banned for a year, Director of Rugby Dean Richards, was slapped with a three-year ban, and club doctor Wendy Chapman was suspended by the General Medical Council.
In the 79th minute of Saturday’s match between the Blues and Hurricanes, with the Blues a man down and hanging on for dear life on their own goal-line, replacement halfback Sam Nock suffered a leg injury and walked to the sideline.
In the time it took referee Angus Gardner to stop the match to explain that the yellow card shown earlier to Hoskins Sotutu for high contact was to be upgraded to a red card, the Blues sent starting halfback Finlay Christie back on to the field, to replace Nock, claiming that this was an HIA replacement.
To their great credit, the sideline 5th match official and the independent doctor asked Gardner for time to assess the situation. Showing all of his experience, Gardner calmly allowed the doctor to do his work, and as a result, Christie was sent packing, and the Blues just managed to scramble to a 33-29 win.
Let’s be clear that in 2009, the Harlequins actions were premeditated and had occurred on previous occasions. This, and let’s call it what it was – cheating – was part of their kit bag.
By comparison, the Blues’ actions were opportunistic. A difficult situation had arisen which would have seen the Blues down to 13 men, and an opportunity to game the HIA process was identified.
Cheating in sport can be a tricky construct. A fencer secretly using a buzzer to simulate hits on target? Sure. A swimmer doping? Absolutely. A rugby player pulling an opponent back by the jersey? Not really.
Generally, if match officials have the capacity to sanction players who transgress in-match, and there is a price to be paid for those transgressions – conceding points, and/or a numerical advantage, or ultimately, the match itself – then I’d imagine that most people consider these things to be ‘part of the game’.
But when shady actions move from on-field to off, these matters start to be viewed more seriously. Salary cap breaches, fake grandmothers and deliberately gaming a replacement process are in a different league.
There will be those who brush this off with a sly wink, who say, ‘good luck to the Blues for seeing what they could get away with’. A club ‘Medic’ somehow being allowed to park himself over the shoulder of the independent doctor in order to try to convince him he was seeing something that wasn’t there? Sure, why not?
Others might wonder why club officials are allowed anywhere near the independent doctor? What’s next, a representative from each club parked upstairs, next to the TMO, trying to influence his decisions?
Following the match, I contacted Super Rugby Pacific to inquire as to whether there will be any inquiry into the Blues’ actions, and what sanctions might be considered if they were found to be in breach. The following statement was provided:
“Super Rugby Pacific management reviews all fixtures and takes action if a breach of tournament protocols, which includes head injury protocols, is identified.”
Make of that what you will. The reaction of an organisation determined to preserve the integrity of its competition? Or a body buying time to assess whether or not there is sufficient public reaction to warrant any further action?
It was a bad night too for Sky Sport, who had this story playing out in front of their very eyes but were too focussed on horseplay and meaningless cliches, to even notice. Kirstie Stanaway – routinely an excellent host – even made a point of saying to Blues coach Vern Cotter post-match, that she wouldn’t ask him what he was shouting into his comms, in those last few frantic minutes.
Why not? Viewers surely had an interest in knowing whether the decision to fake a HIA came from the coaching box or the sideline.
The other factor that elevates this issue above and beyond ‘nudge and wink’ was touched on by referee Gardner, when he explained that, because head injury assessment is a player safety matter, he would allow the doctor the time he needed to make a determination.
Vern Cotter. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Why are people in rugby so stubbornly slow to realise that concussion and brain injury is a deadly serious matter, not to be joked with; not to be demeaned and cheapened by a process designed to protect the health of players being abused and made a mockery of?
It was a bad weekend all round on that front, with Timoci Tavatavanawi (Highlanders) and Massimo de Lutiis (Reds) both staying down on the ground after heavy contact to the head, then unsteadily re-joining play, before being allowed to play out the match without being subjected to an HIA.
In both cases, the television match callers identified the injury, Stan’s Sean Moloney saying in the run of play, “de Lutiis is really struggling”. Yet two sets of team medics and two independent match doctors deemed these instances unworthy of the player being subjected to an assessment.
Something isn’t working, and the inconsistency in application is another reason why coaches, most media commentators and fans, have never really embraced or got their heads around how the issue is treated.
The principles of conservative medicine and common-sense application suggest that decisions to remove players for an assessment should always err on the side of caution. If the player is then deemed fit to continue, he can come back on.
Yet somehow, despite World Rugby continuing to trumpet initiatives with respect to player safety, rugby is still at a point where some players are being allowed to ‘shake it off’ and ‘run it out’.
Make no mistake, those players are being done a grave disservice by the game.
Compared to other contact sports like rugby league and AFL, rugby has continually adopted a ‘holier than thou’ approach. Indeed, the AFL this season is introducing new guidelines which allow for brief on-field assessments of players by club doctors, prior to any decision being made to remove the player for an HIA.
If you like, this is the half-baked assessment you have before you (possibly) have an assessment.
Introduced under the guise of improving player safety, this move is actually the AFL’s response to pressure from coaches and club doctors frustrated at having ceded control of the game to independent doctors, who they believe are often too keen to remove players from the field for lengthy HIAs.
For their part, the NRL blunders on, seemingly too intoxicated by the promise of rivers of gambling gold to properly address the issue of head injury in rugby league.
On a Vegas strip lathered in hype, in an atmosphere thick with the smoke the rugby league family was blowing up each other’s backsides, Las Vegas Board of County Commissioners chair Tick Segerblom, told The Australian’s Andrew Webster, “football here (US football) is dying because of the head injuries. This (rugby league) is a classic football game without all the shit on it.”
Before anyone laughs too hard at the notion that rugby league is an attractive proposition for US audiences because it doesn’t have any issue with head injury, consider that on the evidence of this weekend, and the high levels of antagonism and frustration that now exist in the UK between advocacy groups and player cohorts, and World Rugby, how far rugby is from having its own house in order.
If Super Rugby Pacific eventually opts to do nothing about the Blues gaming the HIA process, then consider rugby’s moral high ground on head injury to be somewhere level with the Mariana Trench.
To the on-field action, and there was more frustration for Moana Pasifika who, despite Ardie Savea’s outstanding individual try, again fell short, 31-29 to the Highlanders.
There were hairy moments for the winners; Tavatavanawi’s failed attempt to replicate his quick tap and 50:22 kick gifting the home side a final opportunity to steal the game. But while the talent is undeniably there for Moana Pasifika, the clinical composure that comes from learning how to win, isn’t. At least not yet.
Timoci Tavatavanawai. (Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)
It’s a similar story when it comes to the Fijian Drua, in particular away from home. Despite playing plenty of excellent football, the 29-24 loss to the Waratahs is now their 17th successive miss on the road.
The result was sealed with a penalty try awarded to the Waratahs with just 2 ½ minutes remaining; a result of a collapsed lineout maul drive on the try-line.
But the Drua can consider themselves hard done by, given how the 5m lineout leading to that maul drive should never have happened in the first place; Waratah Andrew Kellaway clearly a metre offside chasing through a kick, pressuring the ball into touch.
An offside penalty from where the kick was made would have seen the Drua still ahead by two points, and feeding an attacking lineout of their own – a very different proposition.
So, that’s two narrow, late escapes for the Waratahs in two matches, and while it highlights how far they have to go to become a cohesive unit in order to challenge the better sides, it also speaks to a strong spirit developing within the group.
In Hamilton, Sky’s Aaron Cruden highlighted the benefits of afternoon footy, and the Chiefs and Brumbies did the dry, sunny conditions full justice, in a 12-try, 49-34 shootout.
It’s not often a side scores six tries and leaves without even a bonus point, but this match was truly in the balance until late, and the Brumbies will feel positive about how much of their outstanding ball movement matched that of their hosts.
Throw in a magnificent covering tackle by Tom Wright to deny Damian McKenzie what would have been a special try, and this was another brilliant advertisement for Super Rugby. Yes, there will be people who didn’t watch the match question the quality of the defence, but given the conditions, with two skilful sides intent on moving the ball quickly, tries were always going to come, thick and fast.
Declan Meredith is tackled by Josh Jacomb. (Photo by Dave Rowland/Getty Images)
Before the chaotic finish in Wellington, a dominating third quarter from the Hurricanes had them in a winning position, at 29-21. It could have been more; Kini Naholo’s ‘white line fever’ dive over a ruck a reminder of how a player not knowing the laws can prove very costly for their team.
With their season teetering, the Blues desperately needed their big-name players to step up. A simple but clever tap move isolated Sotutu on a small defender, before Beauden Barrett and Caleb Clarke featured in a sweeping 75m counter attack, that culminated in a dash and finish by Mark Tele’a of exquisite beauty.
Despite the loss, this was the Hurricanes’ best performance of the season. Perhaps, if they had their time again in that crazy finale, with Sotutu banished, they would opt for a 5m scrum instead of throwing to a contestable lineout. Then again, they weren’t the only ones not thinking straight.
Opting for a last-minute lineout and coming up trumps were the Reds; turning down a handy penalty shot and a probable draw (to go into extra-time) to snatch a 28-24 win over the Force.
On sheer pluck alone, the Reds deserved every bit of that result; Kalani Thomas, then Filipo Daugunu wriggling their way to victory. Like the Waratahs, they’ll need to improve, but the collective self-confidence that comes from winning in this manner can’t be underestimated.
Once again, the Force skipped to an early lead, with the irrepressible Carlo Tizzano prominent. But instead of trying to run the clock down like last week, Issak Fines-Leleiwasa twice kicked the ball away; the second one a particularly aimless effort that helped put the Reds into a winning position.
We’re still two or three rounds and a few more crossover matches away from getting a proper handle on the ladder. One thing we do know is that the margin between winning and losing is so small, no side can ever feel comfortable.
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Author : rugby-247
Publish date : 2025-03-02 21:13:17
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