Top-level rugby doping fears as it's revealed just 16 match day tests were carried out in the Aviva Premiership in an entire season

  • Tests in the Aviva Premiership were called by officials as ‘worryingly inadequate’
  • Sportsmail has spoken to Premiership insiders who fear for rugby's integrity
  • One top-flight club have had UKAD testers at just one home match this season

Serious concerns have been raised about anti-doping procedures in top-level English rugby, with the extent to which players are being tested in the Aviva Premiership described by some club officials as ‘worryingly inadequate’.

The Mail on Sunday has spoken to a number of Premiership insiders who fear the integrity of their sport is under threat because of a lack of funding for UK Anti-Doping (UKAD), a lack of investment by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in testing and a lack of focus on their top-flight club competition.

One Premiership club have had UKAD testers at just one home match this season, with officials aware of only one out-of-competition visit. 

The Mail on Sunday has spoken to Premiership insiders who fear for rugby's integrity

The Mail on Sunday has spoken to Premiership insiders who fear for rugby's integrity

Ordinarily these visits occur during a squad training session. Officials from another club also consider the deterrent of regular testing virtually non-existent.


One official said the presence of doping control officers at their matches has been so infrequent that they had to empty office furniture from a room usually used for doping control when testers arrived before a game. 

Another club officer recalls urine sample pots being collected on their desk while players were being taken into a staff toilet to be tested.

The figures are concerning, not least when it comes to in-competition testing that takes place on match days.

UKAD’s most recent figures state that of the 1,029 tests on all rugby union players between June 1, 2016 and May 31, 2017, 224 were on Premiership players. 

But only 16 of those were in-competition across a 132-game season. One anti-doping expert told this newspaper that while they were not alarmed to hear that the majority of tests were conducted out of competition, they were ‘surprised by the imbalance’. 

‘So few in-competition tests does raise an eyebrow,’ they said.

Out-of-competition testing has long been considered more effective for catching cheats, not just because of the element of surprise but because most doping occurs away from the actual event.

Indeed UKAD issued a statement on Friday, with director of operations Pat Myhill explaining their approach.

‘UKAD’s testing programme across all sports is intelligence-led and risk-based,’ he said. ‘We direct our resources to areas we consider to have the greatest threats to clean sport. 

In terms of rugby union, our greatest proportion of testing remains out of competition due to the higher risk of doping during such periods.

‘Of course, more testing can always take place with greater resources, however a successful anti-doping programme relies on more than just testing. 

UKAD works closely with the RFU, WRU (Welsh Rugby Union) and SRU (Scottish Rugby Union) to develop and provide education programmes as part of our prevention strategies for players and support personnel, giving them the ability to make informed decisions.’

Recent World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) figures do, however, challenge UKAD’s system, given that more athletes are being caught in competition rather than out of it. 

In rugby union in 2016 there were 66 failures from 2,673 tests in competition; compared to 54 failures from 4,693 out-of-competition tests. Rugby clearly has a drug problem, in both codes. 

Of the 59 current UKAD sanctions, 17 are from union and 12 are from league at a time when the focus on size, speed and strength has never been greater. 

But those caught are, for the most part, from junior clubs and tend to be young players trying to take a short-cut to success, or older players (among those banned is a player caught when he was 40) trying to maintain current levels.

Testing in the Aviva Premiership was described by some officials as ‘worryingly inadequate’

Testing in the Aviva Premiership was described by some officials as ‘worryingly inadequate’

The elite are not exactly being ignored. The most recent RFU figures highlight the fact that international players are the most-tested group of all, with 360 samples collected from them for the 2015-2016 season. 

And there is a justifiable focus on the junior ranks when there has been a sharp increase in substance abuse among younger players. But with the 2018 Six Nations due to begin next month, there are concerns about the extent to which the top players are being tested when with their clubs.

Former England coach Dick Best said: ‘If it’s as little as 16 in-competition tests in 132 Premiership games it looks like a bit of a token gesture. And what worries me about that is the possibility that, as players become aware of it, they might be enticed to take more risks and do something stupid. 

Money isn’t necessarily the answer. How exactly does it change things? Is more testing the solution? But if a lack of funding is an issue, it needs highlighting and it needs to be reviewed.’

In fairness to the RFU, the organisation represent something of a rarity in being a national governing body who publish an annual anti-doping report. 

But what they don’t publish is how much they spend on anti-doping, and the issue of funding for UKAD will soon come under fresh scrutiny when the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee publishes its report on doping.

Out of 59 current UK Anti-Doping sanctions, 29 are accounted for by rugby players at a time when the focus on size, speed and strength is greater than ever

SIR CLIVE WOODWARD 

The common perception is that rugby does not particularly have a doping problem, but the truth is we don’t know, the testing needs to be much more widespread and year round. 

Rugby must put itself above suspicion and one of the ways that can be achieved is by massively increasing the number of tests both in and out of competition and out of season.

A top cyclist will be tested between 40 and 60 times a year — more if you are a serial winner or wearer of the leader’s jersey — while athletes and rowers won’t be far behind.

As rugby is now an Olympic sport, it must be prepared for its players to undergo that intense degree of scrutiny.

If you look at rugby objectively, the sport needs strength, speed and endurance from its athletes, and that certainly fits the profile of those who might be tempted to use performance-enhancing drugs.

Injuries, as we know, are also a massive issue within the game and, again, there are certain banned drugs that can help you train harder and for longer during the rehabilitation period, thus speeding up recovery. 

Drug testing on the scale required would not be a cheap exercise and World Rugby, the world governing body, must take a lead. They must insist that richer unions allocate a substantial percentage of their turnover to finance a comprehensive independent testing programme, especially in the top-tier countries, including — and arguably most importantly — within schools.

Top youngsters considering a professional career in rugby need to know the dangers and consequences and they need to take on board that if they become professionals, drug testing will be a fact of life.

Along with betting, doping has the ability to totally undermine rugby, as many Olympic sports will testify.

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