Doping or using banned substances like steroids has been a thing in sport and especially rugby for as longas I can remember. When I was playing in the 1990s and early 2000's I experienced seeing this first hand.
In those days I was very naive to think players I was playing with and against were doping yet it was that obvious. I used to struggle to put on weight due to how many calories I was burning daily through the amount of training we were doing. Rugby as a sport was on the verge of turning professional and I still had an amateur mind set and did not realise others were gearing up to turn professional. When money is the goal people will go to extra lengths to try and earn a piece of the pie.
My club team at the time had a handful of Springbok players along with provincial players who often skipped out on training sessions as they had their own with the higher teams they represented. Some of the players I was training and playing with grew significantly in size or body mass to be more precise so much so it had put myself under pressure to eat more. 120 Kg's was the benchmark weight for a forward playing in my position and I was a well conditioned 114 Kg all natural specimen. The muscles I had came from doing my normal days work which could be very physical and hence I never even contemplated gym work. I have no regrets not taking steroids as that is not me or how I even would think.
This week one of the SA rugby players in the larger training squad is having a conclusion to his hearing after being found guilty of doping. This is his second offence and this should be a lengthy to life time ban. These days we do not get to hear of many players being caught out as the punishment is so severe it is career ending. A 5 year or 10 year ban from the sport when you only have a career window of around 12-14 years is a chunk of time out of the game.
Apparently the testing labs that were once operational in this side of the world have shut down or were suspended in March 2024 and have not been operational. To get an extent or idea how much the testing has dropped back in 2015 785 players were tested and in 2024 only 127 so this represents a 6 fold decrease when the numbers should actually be increasing.
When you are back to back world rugby champions you would like to think testing is taking place like it is everywhere else in the world. I would not say it diminished the results, but definitely opens this topic up to debate. In comparison UK Anti doping test numbers have increased by 25% over the same time period.
World Rugby also tests players which include SA rugby players and completed 2182 in 2024 which is also down from the figures of 5 years ago. SA teams compete in the URC tournament which includes European teams and will be tested according to World Rugby requirements.
With the local doping testing laboratories shut down blood samples are still being gathered and sent overseas for testing. Obviously not in the numbers that one would expect and this is a concern. Young aspiring players could dope and grow their body mass before weening themselves off and avoiding any type of scrutiny.
Sadly doping is happening in so many sports these days and is only a level playing field if you are doping as well. Back when I was playing I may have been the exception at the time and had no idea what the other team mates were up to. If I had known I may have stopped playing because the one benefit steroids offers is reduced recovery time and I was always shattered with having training every day.
