Unnamed player fails a drug test

ONE UNNAMED player failed a drugs test during the Rugby World Cup and has been provisionally suspended, the International Rugby Board announced.

The player’s identity has been withheld until his case has been heard but the IRB confirmed he plays for a nation that failed to qualify for the quarter-finals.

The positive test was returned following a match in the final round of the pool phase.

A statement from the IRB said: “The substance detected is classified as a narcotic (painkiller) and is classified as a specified substance under the Wada (World Anti-Doping Agency) prohibited list.

“The player and his union (who exited the tournament after the pool phase) have been informed of the finding and the player is provisionally suspended until the outcome of a hearing, which is pending.”

The IRB collected 216 urine samples and 76 blood samples during the World Cup.

Japan’s Ryohei Yamanaka tested positive for methyltestosterone, which was contained in cream he used to assist the growth of his moustache, and he was banned for two years.

Russian player Evgeny Pronenko was banned for six months after testing positive for Furosemide, a diuretic.

The IRB said the blood testing programme returned a clean record for hGH.

A Scottish Rugby Union spokesman confirmed they had not been contacted by the IRB about any adverse finding.

England’s new interim head coach Stuart Lancaster admitted his first job will be to “get the culture right” in the wake of the World Cup fiasco.

Lancaster will step up from his current dual role of England Saxons coach and head of player development to take charge until a permanent replacement for Martin Johnson is appointed.

Graham Rowntree is the only member of England’s senior World Cup management team to be retained while Andy Farrell, the former dual international, has been seconded from Saracens.

There is no place in the England set-up for defence coach Mike Ford or forwards coach John Wells, who had worked with the national team since 2006.

Johnson and attack coach Brian Smith stood down after England’s failed World Cup campaign, which was dogged by controversy and ended with a quarter-final defeat to France.

Lancaster, who had a watching brief with England during the World Cup, said: “With Graham Rowntree’s experience of being out in New Zealand and my experience of being out in New Zealand and everything that has been said subsequently, we hope to learn those lessons.”