'Bloodgate' physio set for appeal

Former Harlequins physiotherapist Steph Brennan, who was struck off for his part in the "Bloodgate" rugby controversy, was today mounting a High Court appeal in a bid to save his career.

Brennan had been due to start work with the RFU as an England physio until his role in the systematic use of fake-blood capsules during matches was exposed.

After being banned from rugby for two years he had carried on working in private practice, but the Health Professions Council disbarred him from practising in September.

That means his career is in ruins unless his legal challenge at the High Court in London, which was due to start today, is successful.

Brennan helped fabricate the blood injury to winger Tom Williams during Harlequins' Heineken Cup quarter-final defeat to Leinster in April 2009.