Bloodgate

Deflategate.

Deflategate, Bloodgate.

Yeah.

Quite a few, isn't it, actually? Um, yeah, let us know.

And don't get me wrong, you know what I mean, like, A lot of their fans defending it.

There's Bloodgate and things like that.

You know what I mean? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

But ultimately, what I see here today, I've seen on the telly, you know what I mean? All coming down in a, you know, like all in a line altogether.

Do you find in rugby some- sometimes you get some, some sort of egos where they take themselves too seriously? Like, obviously it's a professional sport, you have to take it seriously, but, like, they go a step too far.

Like we had with Bloodgate and some of the-

Mm

... reactions you get in interviews from some managers and stuff that get pissed off around little things around the fringes of the game.

Right, I got a question for you two.

Has Harlequins, or is this the worst place Harlequins have been since Bloodgate?

Oof, gosh.

Well, on the pitch, I g- I guess, I get they've done the big game stuff, and they've brought that to the league, and they do a good matchday experience.

But if there's no evidence, then you can't say that it was.

Another thing that happened as well in rugby was Bloodgate, which is another way of bending a rule in that Harlequins were playing against Leinster in 2009 in the Heineken Cup.

And Harlequins wanted previously substituted kicker Nick Evans back on the field.

But they'd used all of their substitutes.

They wanted to have a really strong kicker back on the field.

Because they'd used all their substitutes, they didn't have the option to put him back on.

And so they utilised Bloodgate.

Bloodgate is obviously what it was called but in rugby if you have a player that is bleeding you are legally allowed a substitution to take that player off, give them medical attention and put another player on.

[laughs]

But if, like, I don't know what was said sideline, but it, it's another thing, like you can't-- how can you say someone is HIA'd or not? Do you know what I mean? Like, you're not-- like, you can't afford to risk that as a independent match day doctor, as an official saying, "No, no, yeah, he can come off, but we don't think it's HIA, so..." Do you know what I mean? And then someone goes back out there and something-- Do you-- Like, it, it puts-- And this is why in terms of ethics, you cannot manipulate HIA because it, it's there for a very, very serious reason and a purpose, and if we get into this gamesmanship, mate, we, we all know how bad Bloodgate was with the capsules and stuff.

The, like, this is turning into-- like, this is not something...

And I'm speaking passionately here as someone who's left the game with concussion, like, yeah, I'd, I, I think you're putting a lot at risk for the sake of a rugby win.

Yeah, you're taking the piss.

It kind of reminds me of Bloodgate.

Remember Bloodgate? I mean, I hate everything's got gate at the end, but you remember Bloodgate?

I do not remember Bloodgate.

So

there was a guy, because you could get an extra sub, you know, if it's blood related.