Harlequins officials have escaped further punishment from the Rugby Football Union over their alleged attempts to suppress the full details of the Bloodgate affair. The RFU's disciplinary officer, Judge Jeff Blackett, has decided there is insufficient evidence to support a misconduct charge, reprieving the Quins chief executive, Mark Evans, who has been given a vote of confidence by his board.
The case is not yet over for Harlequins' club doctor, Wendy Chapman, who still faces an investigation by the General Medical Council following claims that she agreed to cut the mouth of the winger Tom Williams following last season's Heineken Cup quarter-final against Leinster. Blackett insists he is satisfied, however, that Evans did not ask Williams – who tonight said he was "relieved" the ordeal was now over – to continue lying before last month's European Rugby Cup (ERC) appeal hearing.
"There is no evidence that there was any attempt to induce Tom Williams to lie to ERC," Blackett reported. "When the evidence is considered as a whole, it is clear that any actions by Harlequins which could be classified as misconduct were not sufficiently serious to merit further significant sanction."
Blackett's decision is no real surprise. The RFU is keen to put an end to the damaging saga and hopes the recently appointed Image of the Game Task Group will draw a line under the matter when it reports at the end of the month.
The moment ERC decided not to get involved in the broader aspects of Williams's evidence, it was always likely that Twickenham would not take the matter too much further.
There remains criticism in certain quarters of ERC's handling of the case and Blackett conceded that not everyone within rugby would welcome his latest verdict given the seriousness of the issues raised by Williams in his whistle-blowing evidence.
"There will be some in the game who will consider further action should be taken against Harlequins and senior officials and that my decision has undermined the integrity of the sport. I disagree," Blackett wrote.
"This whole saga has lasted far too long already and a line needs to be drawn so that reputations and the image of the game may be restored. I have no doubt that everyone involved now understands the importance of telling the truth at the earliest possible opportunity and that in itself will send a powerful message to the rest of the game." Several unanswered questions nevertheless remain. Blackett described the whole affair as "unedifying" and said there was "no doubt" it had brought the game into disrepute. He also criticised Evans for waiting nine days to take action against their former director of rugby Dean Richards and to inform ERC and the RFU. He ruled, however, that the club had suffered enough in terms of the resignation of the chairman, Charles Jillings, the loss of Richards and a €300,000 (£262,193) fine, plus substantial costs.
"The reputation of the club has also been tarnished," Blackett added. "That seems to me to be a proportionate sanction for all that has occurred."
The 25-year-old Williams is serving a four-month ban and will be available to play again on 19 November. During the summer he told Blackett he became so sick with worry he lost 7-8kg in weight and felt worse than he had ever felt in his life.
Blackett's considered view was that Evans "never threatened Williams but did ask him on a number of occasions to consider limiting his appeal".
"He [Evans] can be criticised for not disclosing the facts to ERC and the RFU as soon as they came to his attention and this was an error of judgment. However, bringing disciplinary proceedings against him for this conduct, particularly when set against the sanction imposed on the club, would be oppressive."
