RUGBY:DEAN RICHARDS has this week completed the first year of his 36-month ban imposed for masterminding a fake blood substitution in a Heineken Cup match, but the former Harlequins director of rugby, who was hired as a consultant by Worcester at the end of last season, still does not know exactly what his suspension entails.
Richards was given permission to work for Worcester on a one-off basis by the English Rugby Football Union’s chief disciplinary officer, Jeff Blackett, who sought guidance from European Rugby Cup, which imposed the ban, and the International Rugby Board.
Blackett, who was not available for comment last night, said this year he would consider any application from Richards to become involved with a club during his ban on a one-off basis.
The ERC ban, which was adopted by the IRB, suspended Richards from involvement in its competitions and that now applies worldwide.
But it leaves grey areas, such as consultancy and after-dinner speaking. Blackett has not been able to find out whether the ban prevents Richards earning money from the game, as would be the case with drug cheats, leaving him with no alternative but to consider any application on a purely legal, rather than a moral, basis.
The IRB’s position is that Richards should not be involved in any rugby activity and it believes that working as a consultant infringes the ban.
Blackett has been seeking a definitive answer from the ERC and the IRB about what the ban entails.
Until he receives it, he can only judge any application from Richards on its legal merits, raising the prospect of the RFU being criticised for allowing wiggle-room to someone punished for cheating, but it is only by giving a judgment that he is likely to find out what the exact parameters of the suspension are.
Steph Brennan, the former Harlequins physio at the centre of the Bloodgate scandal, will appear before a Health Professions Council misconduct hearing on September 13th. Brennan is alleged to have played a key role in faking the blood injury. If found guilty, he could be struck off.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s conditioning coach Neels Liebel said yesterday he had facts to show northern hemisphere rugby was slower than the game played in the southern hemisphere.
Liebel told a news conference the new global positioning system (GPS) the Springboks are using to track the movement of players during games and training had proved those based in Europe were behind the pace of locally-based internationals.
Coach Peter De Villiers has fielded five European-based players this season – props CJ van der Linde (Leinster) and BJ Botha (Ulster), number eight Joe van Niekerk (Toulon), fullback Francois Steyn (Racing Metro) and outhalf Butch James (Bath).
“This GPS system allows us to do very close monitoring of the players, the distance they run, the pace they are running, and for guys like BJ and CJ, their clubs are also on the system and they have sent us all their data,” Liebel said.
“From all this we have seen the players from overseas are playing at about half the intensity of the Super 14 in terms of the speed they play at. It’s a slower game there and players from there struggle to keep up with the pace.”
Van der Linde and James are in the squad to face New Zealand in the Tri-Nations in Johannesburg on Saturday. “It’s taken four or five weeks for us to get those (European-based) players to the intensity we wanted. Before that they were not getting to the ball quickly enough,” added Liebel.
“There’s nothing wrong with their conditioning, it’s just the game is different in the northern hemisphere, they play closer to the rucks, they don’t often move the ball further than five or six metres from the ruck.”
Liebel also defended Springbok captain John Smit, who is due to win his 100th cap on Saturday but has been under-fire over his form and fitness. “John is in a good physical condition, the distance he’s been running and the pace he’s been running are up there with his usual stats,” said Liebel.
“His weight is the same as it has been the last two or three years and with the exact same fat percentage. So I have no concerns about his fitness at all.”
Former Irish flanker Johnny O’Connor will be available for the start of the Magners League after the extent of a hip injury which forced him to be stretchered off at the weekend is not as bad as initially feared.
O’Connor, who skippered Connacht in the 40-7 loss to Harlequins last Friday night, was carried off after just 15 minutes with what was feared to be a serious injury.
But while he is set to miss this weekend’s final pre-season clash against Saracens, Connacht coach Eric Elwood is confident that the former international will be available for the Magners League opener against Newport Gwent Dragons on Saturday fortnight.
“Johnny reckons he may have got a knee into his back or hip area,” said Elwood. “He is very tender at the moment.
“He is walking okay but he wouldn’t be able to take any contact so he is struggling at the moment for this weekend but he should be alright after that.”
