SA Rugby Has A Doping Problem

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South African rugby recently announced that another junior player had tested positive for the use of anabolic steroids and will most likely face a lengthy ban before his career has even got off the ground. A total of 7 new players tested positive this year and does not reveal the truth as a lack of testing is hiding a much bigger problem.

If You Do Not Test Then There Is No Doping Problem Kind Of Mentality

The stats above do not tell a full story and are misleading because this is more about the number of doping tests undertaken. This is over a 10 year period so the number of rugby players caught is minimal when you compare the number of players being tested each year. The UK leading the charts is more to do with lower amateur leagues than high end youngsters even though there are some who are caught out. The UK also does far more testing than other countries so as a percentage they would have higher numbers.

Australia and New Zealand have had one or two high end professional players who have been caught with some of them being more about treating injuries whilst using banned substances. France has had positive tests with players that has been using recreational drugs like cocaine so not necessarily performance enhancing drugs.

Georgia which does not even feature on this list were caught out recently when the team doctor received a life ban after many of their top players tested positive for anabolic steroids. The doctor was administering a program designed for the team which saw the captain receive an 11 year ban.

South Africa accounts for 20% of all the rugby players testing positive yet has the highest number of players per country with the fewest tests undertaken. SA Rugby saying that they had a decrease in players testing positive is more to do a with a six fold drop in testing. SA has anywhere between 430K-450K rugby players in the country compared to other countries like the UK 380K, France 500K, Australia 230K and New Zealand 150K. If you test less than other countries then it will look like the sport is under control because your results will not reflect as a direct comparison to other countries who are testing far higher numbers each year.

South Africa does have a doping problem with their junior rugby players and the only way to clean the sport up is to increase the number of tests undertaken. The junior players that are testing positive need to receive longer bans than the standard 4 year ban as a deterrent needs to happen and those being caught made an example of making those who are cheating think twice.

I have mentioned before that when I played rugby it was at a time when the sport was changing turning from an amateur to a professional sport. I never used any enhancing drugs and was naive to think others would not either. I witnessed first hand players doubling in size over a 12-18 month period and most of these players did this overseas in places like Italy and France. This was not subtle as this was that obvious to those that knew these players. Those that cheated or let me say those that I knew who cheated were rewarded and benefitted with professional contracts so their plan did work.

What I would like to see is a massive clean up of the sport in South Africa with a nation wide testing program on school boy rugby players. When you are only testing the high end players who are already well on their way to turning professional the testing is happening too late and needs to happen with 16-18 year old players. The madness of this is team mates know who is cheating because the physique of those players changes that quickly so this is not a secret.