Premier Rugby have introduced measures to guard against a repeat of 'Bloodgate' © Getty Images

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Premier Rugby has announced new measures that they hope will prevent a repeat of 'Bloodgate'.

Following a meeting of the Guinness Premiership chairmen the decision was taken to allow opposition doctors the opportunity to verify any blood injury, on a voluntary basis, during the coming season.

The move has been motivated by the damaging spectacle of Harlequins' 'Bloodgate' scandal which saw former director of rugby Dean Richards handed a three-year coaching ban and winger Tom Williams suspended for four months after faking a blood injury in last April's Heineken Cup quarter-final against Leinster.

The group also endorsed the recent Premier Rugby ruling that any team responsible for a move to uncontested scrums will be forced to compete with 14 men and that a 23-man bench should be employed to safeguard against this eventuality. The 23-man bench was yesterday taken up by European Rugby Cup (ERC), organisers of the Heineken Cup, a move that was also welcomed at the meeting.

The conference additionally resulted in measures to monitor more closely the number of people allowed in pitch-side 'technical zones' and a more formal drugs education program following the bans handed out to five Bath players for drugs-related offences last season.

"We have moved quickly to put in place measures that will immediately address issues that have arisen over the summer, as well as other areas of potential controversy and risk," said Premier Rugby chairman Peter Tom.

Meanwhile, England rugby league coach Tony Smith has said that rugby union can use the rules present in league as an example following 'Bloodgate'.

"There's all sorts of things that used to go on when a blood-bin counted as a substitution," he said. "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.

"I don't like the action of cheating but I am a bit surprised by the reaction. 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."