Doping in rugby as bad as cycling, says ex-hooker

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Thought this was pretty interesting. Without any evidence to back it up, it still wouldn't surprise me at all.

http://www.sportlive.co.za/rugby/mo...ing-in-rugby-as-bad-as-cycling-says-ex-hooker

Former France hooker Laurent Benezech has claimed that people are turning a blind eye to doping in rugby in the same way that was once the norm in cycling.

Speaking to Le Monde Benezech said: "The proofs (of doping in rugby) are in front of our eyes but no-one's interested.
"Rugby is in exactly the same situation that cycling was before the Festina affair." The Festina affair was an infamous case from 1998 in which the Festina team doctor was stopped by customs officers at the France-Belgium border and found to be carrying various doping products.
The fall-out saw several doping investigations and admissions from cyclists and in many people's eyes that was the catalyst to a new commitment to tackle doping in the sport.
Benezech's comments come just a week after former France scrum-half Jean-Pierre Elissalde claimed amphetamines were widely taken in the sport during the 1970s and 1980s.
He also admitted doping during his career.
Just a few days before that, high-ranking French anti-doping official Francoise Lasne claimed rugby had returned the highest proportion of positive dope tests in France in 2012.
And according to Benezech, who was capped 15 times from 1994 to 1995, one need only look at the statistics to see the evidence.
"We went from 20 minutes of effective action to 30 minutes at the end of the 1990s which was the normal evolution due to the players becoming professionals," he said.
"But now we're explaining, even though we're already at 40 minutes, that we can hit 50 and even, why not, 60.
"That's what happened in cycling at the end of the 1990s when logic saw us lengthening the Tour de France's stages and increasing the difficulties without it posing any problems physically to the riders." Benezech blamed clubs for being complicit in abetting doping by authorising the use of banned substances for therapeutic reasons.
"In certain clubs there is the legalisation of the use of authorisations given by the doctors, the famous AUTs (authorisations for therapeutic usage), otherwise players would test positive," he said.
"The use of AUTs has developped in the sense that the doctor justifies the use (of banned substances) for medical reasons when it's clear that they are used to improve performance." And Benezech said rugby authorities had to stop burying their heads in the sand or the systematic use of doping would continue.
"As long as we remain in the dark and refuse to be transparent, we will not be able to avoid endangering the health of sportsmen."

 

[ZeFrenchy]

Anyone who has played intermediate-level rugby, where some players want to become pro, knows that this is totally true. People are just looking the other way.

 

[Getofmeland]

I think to say Doping isn't happening in your sport is a blind approach, there will always be a number of people who will dope to succeed and the only reason why people turn to doping to succeed is down to people being advised that they need to do that to succeed, now this may be a family member, friend but more likely or not it will be a scout or an agent, who wants to make more money off that individual. I believe that if you look at the Lance Armstrong case, it was not just Lance Armstrong who got rich, there was a lot of people who got rich off Lance Armstrong, and that is where the whole doping thing needs to be stopped, at the people who are going to make money of others...

 

[nickdnz]

Interesting. It may be in part due to the number of matches in the Top 14, that players feel recovery needs to be assisted through banned substances. If there is widespread doping in NZ, I'd be very suprised as naive as that may sound - rugby players in NZ are put under a microscope.

 

[Tony Manx]

...............the number of matches in the Top 14,........

Looking at two players, who come to mind as being probably the most consistent members of squads, Lesgourges for Biarritz and Borthwick for Saracens, they have both only made 17 starts in the season to date.

I am not sure that, taking into account the Anglo Welsh Cup, the policy of resting French players for some away games and the three breaks the French teams have during the season, there is much difference in numbers of games played by players between the Aviva and Top 14?

 

[The_Wol]

I don't understand what an ex-hooker would know about doping in rugby, I guess maybe they sold some of the drugs on their corner but you know :L

 

[Superalexmarket]

 

[sifplay]

I blame Lance Amstrong for making innocent drug users think cycling is cool

If they test the kids in our schools we might have only the poor schools left in all competitions so why bother with that much paper work. Just sweep everything under the rug.