Harlequins have defended their conduct since the first hearing in the 'Bloodgate' scandal, insisting that since the July 20th hearing the club has conducted itself “appropriately”, despite claims to the contrary from wing Tom Williams.

The full text of Williams’s appeal hearing to the ERC was released yesterday and in it he claimed the club offered him a four-year contract and other incentives in return for limiting his appeal to tackling the initial 12-month ban he received for his part in faking an injury during the Heineken Cup quarter-final against Leinster.

The ban, which was accompanied by a €245,000 fine for the club, was reduced to four months after he revealed the extent to which the club went to cover up teh fact they faked his injury to allow kicker Nick Evans take to the field in a bid to rescue the game.

Williams's appeal testimony led to director of rugby Dean Richards being banned for three years and physio Steph Brennan being handed a two-year suspension, while the club fine was raised to around €297,000.

Quins, however, say there are issues in his testimony they could take issue with but will not do so until the full details of the other hearings have been published.

Richards’s case is among those expected to be made public next week.

“Harlequins note the issues raised in the written judgement and the Tom Williams witness statement published yesterday,” the club statement read.

“The board is satisfied that subsequent to the July 20th hearing Harlequins have behaved appropriately in the interests of the club, player and other staff.

“There are a number of matters with which the club would like to take issue but only one judgement out of five has been issued to date.

“Therefore it is felt to be wholly inappropriate to comment further until all the findings in all the cases have been published.”

ERC appealed against the outcome of the initial hearing on July 20th and chief executive Derek McGrath outlined the importance of protecting the image of the Heineken and Challenge Cups.

“The decisions that have been made recently and that have concerned the public are of concern to us too,” he said. “We have an independent system and ERC have no influence on how decisions are made. We respect those decisions. We expect IRB guidelines to be followed.

“We are very open with all our stakeholders in that we expect their commitment but at the same time we ourselves are committed to upholding the integrity of the tournament.

“The values we represent we cherish and work hard to protect. Our stakeholders expect that, whether they be broadcasters, sponsors or another union.

“That’s our obligation and we do it in the best interests of the game.”

Rugby Football Union (RFU) chief executive Francis Baron today vowed to confront the sport’s image crisis head on through the creation of a “heavyweight” task

force.

Baron declared “no stone would be left unturned” in the attempt to re-establish the sport’s “core values” that he admitted have been damaged by a succession of scandals.

The debacle at Harlequins is just one of a series of recent incidents that has left rugby’s reputation in tatters.

A high-profile spate of eye-gouging, including by world-class players Sergio Parisse and Schalk Burger, the ensuing defence of rugby’s most unforgivable offence by South Africa coach Peter de Villiers and the suspension of five Bath players for drug-related issues have also blighted the sport.

Baron reassured disillusioned supporters that the RFU’s response would be swift and decisive with the identity of their specially assembled task force to be unveiled on Friday.

“It has been an immensely disappointing summer. The incidents that have happened have done damage to the game and its image,” said Baron. “Judging by my mailbox, supporters are very disappointed with what’s happened.

“Support for the game remains strong but fans don’t like what has happened and expect something to be done about it.

“That is what we are doing and there will be no stone left unturned throughout the process.

“I’m setting up a heavyweight group of people. These are people covering different aspects of the game, experienced and very senior people.”