English RFU to undertake out of competition drug tests

Rugby Union players in England are set to become the first in the world to be tested for cocaine and other social drugs outside of competition.

The game in England has been rocked in recent months after former Bath players Matt Stevens and Justin Harrison both received lengthy suspensions for cocaine use.

Three ex-Bath players — Michael Lipman, Alex Crockett and Andrew Higgins — were suspended for nine months yesterday for missing two drug tests following an end-of-season party.

The current World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) policy only permits players to be tested for cocaine on match days, which is how Stevens was caught.

But the English Rugby Football Union are working on a new illicit drugs policy, in conjunction with Premier Rugby and the players’ union, that would also make out-of-competition testing a contractual obligation.

RFU anti-doping officer Gavin Dovey, who organised a conference at Twickenham last month to address the issue, said: “English rugby is at the forefront of the anti-doping campaign under the Wada code but it is clear that the current Wada regulatory framework does not provide us the mechanism to best manage that risk and what is essentially a social, health and welfare issue.”

The proposals were broadly agreed upon at the Twickenham conference.

The programme is backed by the Professional Rugby Players’ Association and would see the players include a clause in their contracts making them available for testing under both the Wada code and the RFU’s illicit drugs code.

The finer details are still being ironed out but the RFU’s code would not carry the same two-year sanction as the Wada policy, but would most probably operate on a series of strikes.

The idea is to educate players away from the use of social drugs rather than impose stringent two-year bans.

“Figures show that the use of illicit drugs is most prevalent in males aged 16-34, which almost exactly matches our playing population,” said Premier Rugby director Phil Winstanley.

“We would be arrogant to imagine that our players are not at risk and doing nothing is not an option.”

The Professional Rugby Players’ Association were tonight still formulating their response to the suspension handed down to Lipman, Crockett and Higgins.

But chief executive Damian Hopley is a strong believer that rugby should adopt an illicit drugs policy.

He said: “The players wholeheartedly support the development of an illicit drugs policy in rugby.

“They feel the image and reputation of the game have been tarnished by recent events and, by formulating and implementing a robust policy, we will demonstrate a clear stance against illicit drug use in rugby.”