The Harlequins Blood Injury Mystery

I was at the Quins v Leinster Heineken Cup game which recently resulted in a one year ban for the player involved, winger Tom Williams and a £215k+ fine for Harlequins.

I recall the animation on the Leinster bench when Williams did his Ronaldo style wink to his bench as Nick Evans re-entered the fray at a point in the game when his kicking could have swung the game Quins' way. I put it down to a technical rules argument about whether a player who had already been replaced could re enter the game.

Little did we know that it would result in a huge fine for the club and a year long ban for the player.

It begs some interesting questions.....if he was using fake blood, did the coaching/medical staff give it to him? in which case why punish the player so harshly, surely it wasn't his call to use the alleged fake blood, presumably in capsule form?? Is fake blood a standard item in a physio's kit bag?

If the infringement did take place, why not punish the doctor or the physio, both of whom have been exonerated? and finally does it matter that much? Have the European Rugby Cup overreacted in trying to protect the integrity of the game, .....the penalties are indeed draconian....

I suspect an appeal will see reductions all round.

when your football team are suddenly the rich kids

A slightly odd feeling as Manchester City splash another £25m on Carlos Tevez, a great buy as he is a real footballer, combining top class skill with the right attitude but it reinforces the barely credible position that we are now the financial powerhouse in the Premier League.

Zabaleta, SWP, Santa Cruz, De Jong, Kompany, Bridge, Given, Tevez, possibly Adebayor and goodness knows who else before the window slams shut in August.....compare this to not very long ago when we were in the old third division playing(and losing twice to) Wycombe Wanderers, with stars like Big Bob Taylor, God Bless Him!.

The debate over City and the new money is futile, it is what it is, our owners are the owners and they can if they so desire have a multi million pound star in every position.

Will we City fans for whom the phrase long suffering was coined, be comfortable as the new Chelski, who sooner or later everyone will resent as we (hopefully)start winning things and delivering against the current owners business vision and a few hundred thousand people's dreams?

How will we cope emotionally with the rich boys label? Will winning things make the spend irrelevant, especially if we do so in a cavalier style? or will we be a tad embarrassed a la Blackburn Rovers at buying success.

Being a City fan for 40+ years has presented many challenges.....let's see how this phase of being a Blue plays out....Interesting times.