BLOOD CAPS USED 'FOR 20 YEARS'

FORMER Sale boss Adrian Hadley has revealed the shocking scale of the Bloodgate scandal by declaring: Blood capsules have been used for 20 years!

Hadley, a star in rugby union and league, spent more than two decades in the game both as player and coach.

And he has lifted the lid on the disturbing truth behind cheating in BOTH codes. The former Wales wing claimed:

• Blood capsules were "common knowledge" in rugby league.

• Harlequins are not the only club to use fake blood.

• Sale would "mislead" referees on the gravity of injuries.

• Leicester's blood replacement in their Heineken Cup semi-final was "dodgy".

Rugby union has been rocked by the Harlequins fake blood scandal. But Hadley, 46, insists the scam goes back as far as his own playing days in rugby league - two decades ago.

The Cardiff and Wales star switched codes in 1988 and spent eight years with Salford and then Widnes.

Hadley, 46, said: "Blood capsules are nothing new, they were even around in my days in rugby league with Widnes and Salford.

"I never took one and I didn't see a team-mate use one but we all knew they were around. The word was that one of the club assistants had them and if you needed to come off, they would get a tablet on to you.

"I wasn't surprised. You knew that every team was trying whatever they could to get one up on the other side.

"The players regarded the capsules as a bit of a joke. In fact they were probably from a joke shop.

"The difference was in those days no one wanted to come off. There was a different thinking, you named your strongest team and stuck with them."

Rugby is reeling from the Bloodgate testimony of Tom Williams and Quins' cover-up.

But Hadley, who led Sale's rise to prominence as player-coach and then director of rugby, reckons that is just the tip of the iceberg.

He said: "If anyone thinks this sort of thing is recent or Quins are alone in doing this, they must be bloody naive."

Tactics

Hadley insists he was never part of such tactics but admits he misled refs over the extent of a blood injury to get a player off.

He said: "We made the most of any injuries. If someone had a small cut we'd tell the player or physio to smear the blood around and make it look worse.

"Then the ref would agree the bloke had to go to the blood bin. It was a ploy to give someone a rest."

Hadley has joined Martin Offiah in demanding an investigation into Cardiff's Heineken Cup loss to Leicester last season.

We revealed how TV pictures cast doubt over the 'blood' injury suffered by Dan Hipkiss that allowed specialist kicker Julien Dupuy on to convert a penalty in the semi-final shootout.

Hadley said: "The guy had a small cut. Dupuy was already warmed up to come back on. Everyone said it was dodgy."

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