So it turns out Williams was not bullied - he was in­ fact a lying cheating blackmailer who tried to extort­ money from Quins to keep his mouth shut.
He was then­ allowed to testify again with the promise of a shorter­ ban.
Why should anyone believe him now as opposed to­ last time?
How can ERC believe him now as he was­ talking in order to get get areduced ban and therefore­ had every incentive to lie.
He is, simply, a totally­ untrustworthy witness and no conclusions can be drawn­ from what he says.
I want to see the ERC disciplinary­ committee interviewed on TV about their disgusting­ conduct.
The integrity of the game has suffered more at­ their hand than Quins'.

We are sure of one thing only - Williams lied at least­ once. I hate all this sanctimonious bulls**t being­ talked about 'cheating' and 'integrity of­ the game'.
Cheating is endemic in the game - ask a­ player. They may not call it cheating but it is -­ flankers see how much they can get away with for each­ referee (if they are any good). Who is the best cheat­ in the world? - Richie McCaw. Are you going to ban him?

No one had to bite down on a fake blood capsule -­ surely a 'pulled' hamstring would
have sufficed­ ? It goes on all the time - impossible to contradict -­ how many other
similarily dubious injuries have been­ feined throughout the game to allow a more
advantageous­ change of personnel on the pitch. To ruin the careers­ and jobs of the
persons involved and dragging the name­ of the most outstanding game/sport in the world through­ the mud by Williams is a tradgedy. Only my opinion -­ maybe I'm missing something - perhaps I'm being­ naieve and my take on what's happened is simplistic­ - let's commit it to the past.

By the way... for the uninitiated and those short of­ memory, Harlequins have always had this holyier than­ thou attitude, and now their attempted defence is that­ they are one of many. What a lot of­ rot!

Furthermore....

In soccer at least points would­ have been deducted!

Nothing is bad enough for these­ fools who have trashed our sports reputation!

Tom Williams career over. Dean Richards career over. So­ should Mark Jones's. This was a clear case of­ premeditated cheating with Tom Williams carrying a­ blood capsule in his sock. Richards has used this­ tactic four times before. Chuck them all out of the­ game for life. Ban Harlequins from every competetion­ and then get on with it.

Williams can blame who he wants, the ban will stand as­ he should know better as a professional not to cheat

what clubs gonna want him now after snitching on the­ coaches players will hate him for the lack of loyalty­ shown yes the cheating @#$% needed to be caught­ ..theres no place in rugby for it but why dig the knife­ in still i hope his next carreer is gonna be a barman­ in a pub sum where when hes pulling in minimum wage­ hell realise what he has thrown away

Silence is golden Mr Williams! When are you going to­ stop? IS this a chain letter?

So Harlequins are the only Guiness Prem club to have­ faked player injury you must be joking! If Williams had­ any ball's he should have told Richards before it­ took place not wait till the @#$% crowd twice. Would­ you serve on the front line with a guy like­ Williams.

And for Gods sake stop all this bloody­ nonsence about the old school tie Iam a working class­ lad and went to play for Blackheath RFC in 60's the­ club was full of ex-public school guys and they were­ great.

Iam now an honest and wealthy pariah.

He wanted the team to pay off his mortgage. When he­ didn't get what he wanted, he sang. He is a rat!

One thing is for sure, Tom Williams now faces a long­ "self imposed" ban from rugby.
You can­ applaud his honesty, although it was done to save his­ own career on appeal. He was quite obviously following­ orders when biting the capsule but now he has turned on­ the hand that feeds him, he might find it difficult to­ get a position anywhere. Surely his Quins career is­ over?
If he moved to Australia he might get a part on­ Neighbours with his shocking acting abilities.
How­ Quins are allowed to play in the Heineken again beats­ me. With the money spinning draw they have this year,­ the fine is peanuts. A ban would have hit them far­ harder and been fair.

Although I dislike the fact that Quins cheated I­ don't agree with people getting so worked up about­ the cover up. It's only natural to attempt such a­ thing and the package that Jillings offered seemed to­ be a geninue attempt to composate Williams for his­ situation (as well as to limit the damage to Quins, I­ admit but its that so bad?).

This kind of horsetrading­ happens all the time in real life, even within public­ bodies.

Roll on the start of new season so we can­ forget about this and move on.

In all sport the integrity of ..,the result matters­ more tan anything after the actual taking part.The­ actions of the Harlequins club have destroyed that­ integrity.I can only think that the club has got off so­ lightly because these cheating practices are more­ widespread than we will be allowed to know.The game I­ was brought up to revere for its fairness has now­ descended into the pit.there should be a full enquiry­ into the conduct of all professional Rugby clubs.In­ Association Football I am sure the penalties for­ interfering with the integrity of results would be more­ severe.
Richard Harris,Devon

What a good idea Rhys - we rugby fans should boycott­ going to watch Quins playing at the Stoop! At minimum­ they should be out of the HC. One year for the actual­ cheating, and at least another year for the attempted­ cover up. What is a Euro 300,000 when they have 3 home­ ties in the HC against Stade Toulousain, Cardiff and­ Sale!!!!

You know, this makes me more angry than the­ violence at the West Ham v Milwall game last night. ­ They are thugs who have no influence or passion about­ the game, but for the executives of Quins (who are­ supposed to be passionate and actively involved in the­ game) to be so inconsiderate of the fans and the­ traditions of rugby leaves a bitter taste!!!!

I would presume that No's 2 and 8 are apart of the­ backroom staff at this Club that any Normal Rugby fan­ wants to be seen being Punished,from the very Top, But­ they won't as the Old School Tie will comes into­ play and as they say Money Talks...

I'll repeat what I said on another thread. What I­ dont understand is that although it has been stated by­ several ranking people in the game that this is not the­ first such incident in Quins games in the past year­ nothing is happening. I would like to know why noone­ is asking what action Harlequins Chief Executive and­ his staff have taken to stop this happening (the­ cheating)? They cannot profess to have no knowledge of­ what occurs on the field during games from the­ statements above. I believe they should consider their­ positions at the Club and in Rugby. If they dont feel­ any responsibility the RFU should consider their­ positions for them.

He'll wash up on strictly come dancing or celebrity­ survival and become a national hero, for a short time.