So unless you have been living under a rock and avoiding any sporting news over the summer, chances are all I’ll need to reference is "Bloodgate" and you will all know what I mean.
Well, Tom Williams, the capsule biting culprit had done the crime and served his time of four months and made his return. Harlequins were away to Northampton Saints last weekend. May i just point out Harlequins boss John Kingston's clever tactic with regards to his selection of Williams. The team announcement was delayed until late in the week. Also, Northampton's kick off clashed with the England All blacks game, so all media attention was diverted from Franklin's Gardens to the home of english rugby.
But the Harlequins wingers return involved a chilling reminder of the recent past. Just after Half-time Williams had a clash with Saints’ winger Chris Ashton, which lead to the Harlequins physio running onto the field needing to deal with a blood injury, you just couldn’t have written it. Blood was coming from Williams(this time real), the physio managed to plug some cotton wool into Williams’ nose to stop the bleeding, it didn’t really work and after 20 mins, a replacement was made. However I don’t think that this replacement was as tactical as that of the events at The Stoop in April.
Harlequins have been haunted with reminders of Bloodgate since that fateful day, the referee against London Wasps during the London double header ironically was Dean Richards whose namesake is the coach who planned the blood capsule, and now in a cruel twist of fate, on Williams’ return he needs treatment for a blood injury. I was at the London Double header at Twickenham and there were many fans dressed up as vampires, which added comic effect to the day.
Who would have thought it? What do you think, is this karma coming back at Williams?
Should Bloodgate be forgotten of now? Should we all move on and just occasionally give their supporters a bit of jip when they begin to irritate us. I think this Scandal will forever be cemented in Rugby’s history but for now I think it should be left alone and let’s just let the rugby do the talking.
Yes it is time to move on and forget this nightmare for rugby. We don't need this as a diversion for the great game. Most sports have their scandals and most are mainly forgotten. Could have been worse for Williams...headlines could have been with the top photo...
ReplyDeleteDisgraced Williams admits cocaine habit.
Ulster Monster.