The RFU will wait to receive the full judgment over Bloodgate' before deciding whether to issue new charges against rugby legend Dean Richards, physio Steph Brennan and Harlequins.

An independent appeals committee, set up by the European Rugby Cup, gave the club's former director of rugby a three-year ban for his role in Tom Williams's fake blood injury during the Heineken Cup defeat to Leinster and the subsequent cover-up.

That ban — and a two-year penalty for Brennan — were today confirmed as worldwide by the IRB.
It was claimed at the hearing in Glasgow that Richards and Brennan, who was today suspended from his role as England physio, had been involved in four more cases of fake injuries.

Those revelations will be detailed in the judgment and RFU chiefs, meeting today, have decided to wait for that report to be published by the ERC before deciding whether to take action against Richards and Brennan.

They could also punish Quins, who had their original fine increased by £44,000 to £259,000.

It is thought the judgment will be available within the next seven days.

The RFU said today: “European Rugby Cup has sent out a strong message that there is no room for this kind of behaviour in rugby. That is a message the RFU will continue to repeat across the game in England and through our own disciplinary processes.

“We can confirm that we will be upholding the bans handed out by the ERC across our jurisdiction and that on this particular incident we will not be taking further action as we believe the ERC sanctions are appropriate.

“However, given the disclosure in yesterday's appeal hearing of further incidents of a similar nature in other competitions we are awaiting the full documentation from ERC to enable us to review whether there is further action the RFU needs to take against the club, its current or former officials, on those other incidents. We will issue a further statement when we have properly reviewed the documentation.”

Quins chief executive Mark Evans knows his club, which at least escaped a Heineken Cup ban, face a battle to repair their tarnished image.

He said: “It's been a very gruelling time and this has put the whole organisation under a great deal of pressure. We have to take internal action, but that is the way it is. Our reputation has been damaged and we are going to have to work hard to restore that. It's been a bit of a wake-up call for everybody.

“I think that there are very few rugby clubs, if any, that have got the sort of processes in place that you probably need.

“We didn't have a number of things in place that we will have now. We are going to have a compliance policy probably more fitting to a FTSE250 company than a rugby club but that's the kind of scrutiny you're under these days.”

Damien Hopley, chief executive of the Professional Rugby Players' Association said the fall-out from the incident was a warning to the whole sport.

“The aftermath of this episode has left an indelible stigma on the professional game,” he said.

“There is no place for cheating in rugby and the players welcome the findings as an overdue wake up call and very strong deterrent.”

The controversy stems from Quins' April clash with Leinster, when winger Williams used a blood capsule to fake an injury so he could be replaced by specialist kicker Nick Evans.

Evans came onto the pitch with five minutes to go but missed a drop kick and Quins lost 6-5.

Leinster suspected Williams's injury was not real and made a complaint which initially led to the winger being banned for 12 months.

After giving new evidence to the hearing yesterday, Williams had his 12-month ban reduced to four while a charge against club doctor Wendy Chapman was dismissed.

Leinster are satisfied with the new punishments and a source close to the Irish side said: “Harlequins have been dealt with fairly and we believe they have suffered enough sanctions.”

How 'Bloodgate' wrecked Harlequins' reputation

12 April: Harlequins trail Leinster 6-5 in a Heineken Cup quarter-final when with, just five minutes to go, Tom Williams fakes a blood injury so he can be replaced with Nick Evans — a recognised kicker. Evans misses a late drop kick to win the match but Leinster make a complaint over the substitution.

17 April: European Rugby Cup begins an investigation into Bloodgate', led by disciplinary officer Roger O'Connor.

1 July: disciplinary committee hear charges against Williams, Harlequins, director of rugby Dean Richards, physio Steph Brennan and doctor Wendy Chapman.

20 July: committee bans Williams for 12 months and fines Harlequins £215,000, half of which is suspended for a year. Misconduct charges against Richards, Brennan and Chapman are dismissed.

8 August: Williams appeals against his ban. However, O'Connor appeals against Quins' fine and the fact Richards, Brennan and Chapman were not punished. Richards quits Quins.

17 August: appeals committee bans Richards for three years, Brennan for two and increase Quins' fine to £259,000. Williams's suspension is cut to four months while complaint against Chapman is dismissed.