"Absolute madness" - Five biggest fines handed out in rugby union

RUCK is here to break down the five biggest real life fines ever handed out in rugby but you let us know in the comments if you think any of these fines are particularly egregious

During a Heineken Cup match in 2009 against Leinster, Harlequins wing Tom Williams was instructed to bite a fake blood capsule. This ruse aimed to facilitate his temporary substitution so that specialist kicker Nick Evans could be brought onto the field.

Almost immediately, suspicions arose due to the bright red color of the 'blood' as the capsule had been purchased from a novelty shop. Furthermore, Williams was caught winking on camera as he left the field.

Initially, Williams remained silent under the club's orders, but he eventually confessed, exposing the scandal. As a result, the club was fined £260,000, director of rugby Dean Richards received a three-year ban, and doctor Wendy Chapman faced suspension by the General Medical Council. Chapman had cut Williams' lip in the changing room to fabricate evidence of an injury.

In 2016, Marler faced disciplinary action after a charge of misconduct brought by World Rugby. During the Six Nations match between England and Wales at Twickenham, Marler had referred to the Wales prop Samson Lee as "Gypsy boy."

As a result, Marler was fined £20,000 and banned for two matches following the disciplinary hearing.

Recently, the Exeter winger managed to avoid a ban despite his criticism of referee Karl Dickson on Twitter. The RFU confirmed that he has been fined £10,000

The RFU charged Nowell with misconduct following his tweet concerning referee Dickson's decision during the Leicester Tigers vs Exeter Premiership clash

In a crucial second-half call, Dickson sent Exeter wing Olly Woodburn to the sin-bin and awarded Leicester a penalty try due to a tackle made on Chris Ashton. This yellow card, which resulted in a red card for Woodburn as it was his second of the contest, sparked Nowell's tweet.

Nowell, who was not involved in the game, expressed his disbelief on Twitter, stating: "I'm actually in shock, like shock shocked. What the hell is happening? That's one of the worst decisions I've ever seen. EVER.

Since then, the 30-year-old has deleted the tweet.

His England career came to a sad end in 2011 after he was thrown out of England's elite player squad and fined £25,000 by the Rugby Football Union, following events in Queenstown during the World Cup.

James Haskell and Chris Ashton have been handed suspended fines of £5,000 and warned about their future conduct, following an alleged incident in a hotel in Dunedin.

Tindall, who has said he will appeal the decision, was the subject of extensive press attention after a night out at the Altitude Bar in Queenstown, after England's 13-9 win over Argentina.

In late 2022, O'Gara was handed a 10-week ban and was slapped with a €15,000 fine by the French Rugby Union League for 'harming the best interests in rugby.'

As a result of the ban, O'Gara was sidelined until January 30th, 2023, and as a result missed the upcoming Heineken Champions Cup pool stage games against Ulster and Northampton Saints.

The Heineken Cup winning coach of La Rochelle was also issued with a suspended fine of €5,000 on top of the €15,000 penalty.