RUGBY NEWS:HARLEQUINS' CHANCES of participating in this season's Heineken Cup will effectively be decided tomorrow when European Rugby Cup Ltd meet in Dublin to discuss whether further action is necessary following publication of the full written judgments from the Bloodgate appeal hearings.

By the time the ERC board sits down, the game’s supporters will finally know all the gory details pertaining to the case following the official release of the remaining documentation. The beleaguered London club, their erstwhile director of rugby Dean Richards, the Rugby Football Union and their respective legal advisers are due to take delivery of the transcripts this evening, allowing them a few extra hours to digest the contents.

If the pages contain anything as remotely sensational as Tom Williams’s evidence, published last Tuesday, it will be another long, hard week for Quins. The prospects of further embarrassment are pretty high either way, with ERC intending to release simultaneously all the appeal judgments against the club, Richards, the team physiotherapist, Steph Brennan and the club doctor, Wendy Chapman. Richards and Brennan received bans of three and two years respectively having initially had misconduct charges dismissed.

Originally the plan was to release the Quins full appeal judgment – the club’s fine has already increased to €294,000 – before the rest but ERC appears to have responded to criticism of its drip-drip approach. The result is that Richards’s evidence will shortly be aired for the first time, along with that of the Quins’ chief executive, Mark Evans. The club’s chairman, Charles Jillings, has resigned and it seems improbable that both Evans and Williams, two of the other key individuals at the heart of the saga, can continue working alongside each other at The Stoop.

There is already sufficient disquiet within the RFU and ERC to suggest Quins could be drummed out of Europe. The findings of Quins’ internal inquiry have been passed to Judge Jeff Blackett, the RFU’s disciplinary officer, who will await the publication of the appeal judgments before ruling whether Quins are to be charged with conduct prejudicial to the interests of the game. The union’s task group is to hold its first meeting next Monday, with the 13-man panel’s recommendations promised by September 30th.

JP Pietersen (hamstring) and Andries Bekker (shoulder) are to return home from Australia after sustaining injuries during South Africa’s 32-25 Tri-Nations victory in Perth on Saturday.

• Guardian Service