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Blood brothers - bonds and betrayal on a rugby pitch

Tom Williams goes down on the turf against LeinsterGetty Images
Mike Henson
BBC Sport rugby union news reporter

Tom Williams, kneeling on one knee, runs his hand over the blades of grass. His eyes are desperately scanning as his heartbeat rises further.

It is deep in the second half of the 2009 Heineken Cup quarter-final at the Stoop. Williams' team - Harlequins - are a point down.

It is the biggest match the 25-year-old has ever played in.

Harlequins are aiming to make the last four for the first time. Trying to stop them are a star-studded Leinster team featuring the likes of Brian O'Driscoll, Jamie Heaslip, Rob Kearney and Felipe Contepomi.

The stakes are sky-high and time is tight.

But Williams has a more pressing concern.

"I had taken the blood capsule out of my sock, put it in my mouth, and then tried to chew down on it," he re on Sport’s Strangest Crimes: Bloodgate, a BBC Radio 5 Live podcast that delves deeper than ever into one of rugby's most infamous scandals.

"But it fell out on to the floor. I'm red-green colour-blind. I can't see the thing on the floor so I am searching around for it.

"It's just the ridiculousness of it."

A few minutes later, everyone could see it.

Williams, having found the capsule and burst it between his teeth, was led off the pitch, with strangely scarlet blood streaming from his mouth, splattering on Quins' famous quartered shirt.

A blood injury meant Harlequins could bring their star fly-half Nick Evans, previously substituted, back on for a late drop-goal shot at glory.

Tom Williams leaves the pitch against Leinster in 2009Getty Images

Williams departed the pitch against Leinster accompanied by physio Steph Brennan, left, watched by the Sky Sports cameras

The convenience of Williams' injury raised eyebrows and suspicions.

"Who punched Tom Williams in the mouth, Tom Williams">