Former Harlequins Dean Richards has admitted the 'Bloodgate' incident was doomed to failure from the start.
Former Quins chief admits fake injury was doomed to failure
Former Harlequins Dean Richards has admitted the 'Bloodgate' incident was doomed to failure from the start.
Richards has been suspended for three years after ordering winger Tom Williams to take a blood capsule to fake an injury in the Heineken Cup defeat to Leinster so Nick Evans could be brought back on to the field.
Williams had his ban reduced to four months for his part in the scandal, while former physio Steph Brennan was banned for two years.
And Richards has conceded that his attempts to exploit the rules governing blood replacements was badly concealed.
Richards said: "It isn't something we rehearsed, it was something on the spur of the moment.
"When we went through with it and I was stood on the touchline I was thinking, 'Oh my god'.
Wrong
"I saw Tom coming off with blood all around his mouth and walking like Bruce Grobbelaar.
"I was mortified and I knew at that point, instantly, something would come of it.
"It wasn't very well done at all. It was Fred Karno's Circus to be honest."
The length of the ban handed out to Richards reflected the fact it was disclosed at the independent ERC hearing that the former England and Leicester No.8 had been involved in similar incidents in the past.
And Richards has now confirmed he had used blood capsules previously to make replacements.
He added: "It is something I had used and done on four previous occasions prior to that, two tactical and two medical. I know it is wrong and I shouldn't have done it."
