Bloodgate her cutting of Williams's lip to hide his use of the blood capsule.. On 2 September 2009, it was reported that Harlequins had escaped being thrown out of the Heineken Cup following the scandal when the board of organisers European Rugby Cup (ERC) said it approved of the bans and fines already handed out. The affair was dubbed by many in the media "Bloodgate". Leinster won the game 6–5, going on to win the Heineken Cup for the first time. Mark Evans, chief executive of Harlequin FC has said: Richards resigned from his post at Harlequins over an incident in
Rugby union in Tonga and did not qualify for the 1991 Rugby World Cup. Tonga used to compete in the Pacific Tri-Nations against Samoa and Fiji, which has now been replaced by the IRB Pacific Nations Cup, which now also involves Japan, Canada, and the United States. At club level, there are the Datec Cup Provincial Championship and the Pacific Rugby Cup. Rugby union is governed by the Tonga Rugby Football Union, which was also a member of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance, and contributed to the Pacific Islanders rugby union team, before both were disbanded in 2009. Tonga performs the Kailao (Sipi Tau)