Martin Hynes, Northampton's former England squad prop, is among a trio of Premiership players to receive "severe cautions" by an RFU disciplinary tribunal for unknowingly taking banned substances to relieve chest problems.
Hynes tested positive for pseudoephedrine after the match against Sale last February.
Richard Gibbins, of Exeter, tested positive for ephedrine, contained in "Chesteze", before the match against Orrell in March. Gibbins, an asthmatic, had taken the tablets for years.
Bristol's Steve Pearce gave a similar positive reading for the same drug after the game against London Irish in February. Like Hynes, he was taking the medication for a temporary infection.
All three players declared that they were taking the drugs at the time of their tests and none realised that widely-available medication could break the strict anti-drug regulations. Just one question. Are sportsmen the only people in the world who do not understand that these days you don't ingest over-the-counter drugs ?
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)