Will Greenwood's Rugby podcast: Tom Williams interview
Wednesday 10 April 2019 17:00, UK
James Gemmell and Will Greenwood speak to Tom Williams ahead of the 10th anniversary of 'Bloodgate'.
Williams served a four-month ban in 2009 after he was placed at the centre of one of the biggest scandals in professional rugby during Harlequins' Heineken Cup quarter-final against Leinster on April 12, 2009.
During a candid interview, the 2012 Aviva Premiership winner stresses that the scandal was not a premeditated act on his part, but that he was merely carrying out instructions on behalf of the club.
Williams talks about the pitfalls of wanting to win at all costs in sport, and the emotions he has gone through over the course of the past 10 years.
The 35-year-old compares his own experiences to those across other sports where cheating has occurred since his involvement in the fake blood incident in the Heineken Cup quarter-final at the Stoop.
The former wing admits he feels he was part of a very coercive culture under coach Dean Richards at Harlequins, but he admits to believing that clubs involved in bending the rules was endemic in the game during his time as a player.
