International News: The playing future of Australia Test winger Wendell Sailor is in doubt after he was stood down indefinitely following a positive doping test.
The 31-year-old was told on Friday by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority he had returned a positive sample for a banned substance.
The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) immediately ordered he be stood down and the New South Wales Rugby Union (NSWRU) complied by dropping him from Saturday's Super 14 clash between the Waratahs and New Zealand's Wellington Hurricanes.
The ARU and NSWRU had said only that Sailor had been dropped for an alleged breach of the code of conduct but Sailor's manager confirmed it was in relation to a doping violation.
"Wendell Sailor has been notified by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority that part A of a sample he provided recently has returned positive to a banned substance," the management statement read.
"We have approached the Rugby Union Players' Association to request legal advice. At this stage, Wendell has no comment to make."
Sailor, one of Australia's best-known and highest-paid players, faces a maximum ban of two years if found guilty of doping, though officials have not said whether the drug was recreational or performance-enhancing.
Sailor has the right to request his B sample be analysed. If that proved negative he would be cleared, but if the tests results were the same the matter would be referred to a judiciary.
The former rugby league international could also face disciplinary action from Australian rugby officials, who have pledged a crackdown on off-field misdemeanours.
"The ARU condemns the use of performance-enhancing drugs and the use of any other drugs that are on Wada's Prohibited List," a statement read.
Sailor, who switched codes in a blaze of publicity before the 2003 World Cup, was handed a two-match suspended sentence for a nightclub incident while touring South Africa with the Australian Test team in 2005.
He was fined 500 Australian dollars and suspended for one match by the Waratahs over a drunken incident in a nightclub in South Africa in February but the ARU imposed an additional two-match ban and an extra 3,500 Australian dollars fine for bringing the game into disrepute.
Meanwhile, Japan's Daisuke Ohata surpassed Australian David Campese's world record for Test match tries yesterday, touching down three times in a 32-7 win over Georgia to boost his tally to 65.
Ohata's record number of tries came in just 55 Test matches while Campese took 101 matches to set the previous mark of 64, albeit against far tougher opposition than Japan regularly face.
"I doubt (Campese) would have expected a Japanese player to break his record," Ohata told reporters. "There was a weird kind of pressure on me to do it so I'm happy to get it done."
The Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) presented the 30-year-old winger with a gold-striped shirt after the match to mark his achievement.
Ohata's first try came in the 36th minute when he touched down after following up a chip through.
His next came just before the hour mark when he joined a rolling maul five metres out and was pushed over by his pack.
Ohata broke the record deep into injury time when he burst clear following a lineout close to the Georgia line.
"In a way I feel a bit sorry about breaking Campese's record," Ohata said. "But it's great to break it just before the soccer World Cup starts."
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