England’s anxious rugby following will have to wait before the next instalment of the “Bloodgate” saga finds its way on to the streets. ERC, the organiser of European competition, is not expected to release further detail of the evidence given at an appeal hearing last month into the use by Harlequins of fake blood capsules until tomorrow, when, coincidentally, its board meets in Dublin with Bloodgate high on its agenda.
After the revelation of the evidence given by Tom Williams, the Harlequins wing, last week, the next tranche is expected to include the rationale for the increase of the fine imposed on Harlequins, from £215,000, half suspended, to £260,000, to be paid immediately. It will be followed in short order — possibly the next day — by the evidence of Dean Richards, the former club director of rugby, and Steph Brennan, the former Harlequins physiotherapist, suspended for three and two years respectively.
Wendy Chapman, the match-day doctor who, Williams has alleged, cut him with a scalpel to provide evidence of a wound in the aftermath of the Heineken Cup quarter-final against Leinster last April, did not appear at the appeal hearing, although she was represented. It is, though, her position that will give the entire medical profession pause for thought when individuals offer their services to an organisation and a sport for which they have a genuine affection.
“The role of the elite athlete is inherently unhealthy and individuals can be placed in an invidious position,” Rob Dawson, a doctor based in the North East, said.
Dawson, who played third-division rugby in Scotland, set up an NHS clinic, Discus (Drugs in Sport Clinic and Users’ Support) 15 years ago in Tyne and Wear and has established a reputation in the debate on medical ethics. He feels that members of his profession who become involved in elite sporting organisations are a “special breed” because of the pressure they may be placed under.
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He posits the example of a player such as Williams, told by his director of rugby to cheat by using a fake blood capsule and then identifying a need for a real injury when the match is over, placing a doctor in an intolerable position. If he or she will not administer a clean cut, the player could threaten to bite his lip to produce blood, which has greater health implications. What, then, should the doctor do on behalf of the patient?
At what point, Dawson asks, do you cease to be a doctor and become complicit with what is going on? “There is a difference between working for the patient and working for the player,” he said. “Pressure from the club, you should walk away from. Doctors should set out what they will or will not do. It’s not for the club to demand, though they can dictate a frame of reference, but if you love the club and the game, you understand the impact inaction can have.”
Williams has already provided evidence of the conflicting emotions immediately the game with Leinster ended and the immediate suspicion of Leinster officials that his injury was a pretence. ERC has cleared Chapman of any wrongdoing but Dawson believes the case could be “an anchor point for future behaviour”. He said: “If not dealt with appropriately, this may become endemic. Those of us who love sport hope that this point has not been reached. We thought our sport was above this, but we see that nothing is new and cheating goes on.”