At what point is cheating in rugby actually cheating? When is a ban, a fine and an expulsion from competition justified? People who have played the game understand how tight the lines of legality are. Cheating, if you want to call it that, is, rife. For players, it is not a case of where the line is, but whether you are caught at the opposite side of that line. This cynicism is largely protected by the authorities within the game.
The Harlequins case reveals the pressure support staff are under to produce results, be that for the vindication of the coach or the profit and loss margins of the Chief Executive. It reveals the ERC’s desire to protect the credibility of a competition (and sponsors) only when they are faced a situation as ludicrous as a chartered physiotherapist purchasing fake-blood in a joke shop with intent to supply. The verdict, and the punishments bestowed, do nothing to deter the real cynicism that permeates our game. The gouging, the collapsed scrums, the tampering of lineouts, killing the ball… the list goes on.
The severity of the judgement taken against Harlequins, Dean Richards, Tom Williams and Steph Brennan is not out of a desire to protect the integrity of the game, but out of a need to placate sponsors in a buyers market. If the ERC are serious about cleaning up the game, they would want to do more than punish a coach who has been corrupt for many years and a player and physio acting under obvious coercion.
Dean Richards is a man conditioned by his sport to cheat. Richards has history. A lot of it. The Leicester Tigers team he groomed were animals in the loose, pushing the limits of the law beyond the ability of any competent referee. When Neil Back swiped a Munster scrum in the final moments of the 2002 Heineken Cup Final, we saw a power-play of a cheat executed without remorse. For Richards, the ends justified the means. He is certainly not alone.
He has plenty of time to mull over the consequences of re-introducing Nick Evans. One thought may cross his mind. Why should he not have been allowed to re-introduce Nick Evans late in the second half? 10 is a specialized position, like front row, although without the safety concerns. What difference does it make if he comes on? If anything, the laws favored Leinster by preventing Evans from returning to the field despite injury.
I disregard the people who say that this is not rugby that this is not a realistic impression of our game. Cheating is part of the sport and will never be entirely contained. What must be examined are the reasons we want to eradicate it from the sport. The cynics of the game who represent some of the top teams in the world need to be put on the same list as Richards, Quins et al.
