England coach Tony Smith has revealed that faking blood injuries used to be rife in rugby league.
Harlequins scandal revives memories for England's rugby league coach
England coach Tony Smith has revealed that faking blood injuries used to be rife in rugby league before a change in the rules put a stop to the practice.
Smith, speaking in the wake of the 'Bloodgate' scandal at rugby union team Harlequins, admitted that blood capsules were used in the 13-man code as a way to gain additional use of substitutes.
"There's all sorts of things that used to go on when a blood-bin counted as a substitution," said the former Huddersfield and Leeds boss who is now in charge of Challenge Cup winners Warrington.
"I saw it, both here and in Australia. I haven't done it but I've heard of blood capsules being used and I certainly know of players that picked the tops off scabs in order to make them bleed. It used to be very common."
Surprised
The Rugby League International Federation removed all advantages from faking blood injuries when they included all blood-bins as part of the limited interchange rule and Smith believes rugby union should adopt a similar policy.
"I don't like the action of cheating but I am a bit surprised by the reaction," he added.
"We found ways of clearing it up by making the rules so there wasn't the ability to find a loophole in the system.
"If there's a loophole, someone will take it right to the edge and sometimes step over the edge. To be fair, that's what I think has happened in their sport.
"I just think they need to look at their rules and come up with ways of ironing out all those areas. We have."
