PED's rife in South African school rugby.

In the past six months nearly a third of 62 school boys that were tested for performance enhancing drugs tested positive. In fact it has become so easy to acquire the PED's that school kids can order these items online and have it delivered at school.

SAIDS (South African Institute for Drug free sport) has instituted a country wide investigation into more than 100 schools, which includes the top rugby schools in the country. These schools have all agreed upon these tests being done.

Paul Roos Gymnasium, Grey College Bloemfontein and Afrikaans Seuns Highschool in Pretoria are amongst those that have agreed to participating in these tests.

One school in Durban got suspicious when more and more courier packages got delivered at school and requested an independant party to come test their pupils.

Dr. Jon Patricios a sports physician in Johannesburg started seeing remarkable changes in the physique of some of his young patients and approached their schools in regards with testing for PED's

There has been a number of youngsters with kidney failure, heart problems etc due to the use of these PED's

Courtesy Sport 24

Khalid Galant said the institute was rolling out a testing programme in schools on Monday in an effort to stamp out “the growing scourge” of steroid and drug use in school sports.

“The schools’ testing strategy is no longer just about catching ‘in-competition’ drug cheats,” he said.

“It is now about protecting the health of our children and making them realise the dangers of doping and the importance of responsibilities as a school-going athlete.”

A principal could initiate a test on a pupil or pupils if there were fair and reasonable grounds for suspected prohibited substance use.

The case would be referred to SAIDS, which would then send a doping control officer to test the pupil, in the presence of the principal or school official and an adult witness of the same gender as the pupil.

The test would be done in a private area and doping control documentation would be filled out.

Minimum of three months’ sanction

The pupil would be tested for steroids, diuretics and other masking agents, hormone and metabolic modulators, and stimulants.

If the test came back positive, SAIDS would inform the principal and would provide guidelines for disciplinary action.

All substances carried a minimum of a three months’ sanction from the sport and a maximum sentence of expulsion. This would be decided by the school’s governing body.

Galant said the testing protocol was drafted by leading sports attorneys and took the Schools Act into account.

A national road show would take place until next Thursday to explain the protocol on a legal and educational basis.

Workshops would be held at Grey High School in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday, Bishops in Cape Town next Tuesday, St John’s College in Johannesburg the same day, and Kearsney College in KwaZulu-Natal on February 12.

Galant said schools which formally adopted the protocol would be accredited as SAIDS compliant for a year.

To be honest it doesn't surprise me at all. It's one of my frustrations with all the cycling stuff going on - despite the history and all the muck that is coming out. Cycling does more testing than any other sport now and is (I suspect) as clean a sport as you can get.

It's obviously a really hard subject to discuss without saying anything potentially libelous. So I will restrict myself to saying that I'd be very surprised if there aren't any teams with doping programmes as Festina had in the late 90s and USPS in Armstrong's era. Though I suspect there is more steroid use than EPO, for obvious reasons - I do think that in some cases blood doping and EPO are likely.

The procedures in rugby are a bit of a joke in my opinion. A classic being the investigation when the two South Africans tested positive for Methylhexaneamine. I'm not trying to suggest there was anything sinister going on as the drug was reclassified shortly afterwards, due to the fact that it frequently turns up in trace amounts in legitimate supplements. However, it is farcical that the SARFU were the ones to investigate when players playing for SA had a positive test - even more so when it turned out to be from a supplement they gave the players. Definitely should have been investigated by a neutral body.

I also think more should have been done or at least considered in response. E.g. have they changed their systems to test supplements themselves in future, as the certificate from the supplier clearly didn't guarantee a clean product in this case.

For concerned views from an ex-pro read this.

http://www.therugbypaper.co.uk/features/columnists/jeff-probyn/2071/jeff-probyn-rugby-should-be-backing-the-war-against-drugs/

And this is all in a sport that has only been pro for a relatively short period. In my own mind the incentive to dope, and the establishment of doping programmes is probably more likely in sports where that incentive has existed for longer.

As a final word I think sports need to give a little bit of consideration as to how they deal with doping. I think the current approach by WADA and its subsids at national level is very witch-huntesque and only helps to push doping into the shadows.

Of course it is cheating and should be punished, but it seems totally out of proportion to other foul play in my opinion. To put it into perspective would you rather a member of the opposition took steroids in the off season, or gouged your eyes/hyper-extended your arm and snapped it/intentionally collapsed a scrum and left you paralysed/etc - because the results shows that all of the latter come with significantly shorter bans. I don't really think proper progress will be made until more sensible and proportionate sentencing is brought in, which may mean softer bans for those that are young and pressured into it and potentially much harder bans for coaches or senior players applying pressure and supplying PEDs. Combined with that you also need a much more effective testing programme, including biological passports, with frequent testing and monitoring of all players.

Who can blame them?
The young lads are under immense pressure and competition to realise their dream of moving the England in their late 20s and representing us in a failed world cup bid.

Joking aside I broadly agree with what Big says.
It's pretty inevitable that this is going to happen, the worrying thing is that it's kids in their teens who potentially have the most to gain through steroid and high use, but who also are least equipped to make sensible choices and most at risk of long term health damage. Getting into the pro academies teams is competitive, being bigger stronger and fitter at a young age will improve your chances. If there are supplements available of course people will take them, especially if they are short on information regarding safety and legality and where there's practically no testing. College football and wrestling in the US have similar well documented issues, PED use has become an institutional norm.
Full WADA testing at youth level is just not practical though. The costs are huge, and facilities limited. Like most things this really comes down to promoting a clean culture through the sport and individuals making the choice not to do it. Cycling showed what happens when the opposite tack is taken.

Not particularly surprised to be honest. Fair play to SAIDS for trying to deal with the issue.....

I can't say its a huge surprise, I think it is a worldwide problem, well done to SAIDS for trying to deal with it.

Without saying anything libellous, I know for a fact that certainly not that long ago, students at a well know rugby playing college in the UK were taking peds, not 1 or 2 people, but a large minority.

You also wonder about the off season, when some young players seem to have huge phyiscal changes in just a few months.

This link isnt strictly rugby, but the fact that so many other sports were involved and not investigated is worrying: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/9816922/Spain-accused-of-a-doping-cover-up-as-doctor-implicated-in-cyclings-Operation-Puerto-scandal-goes-on-trial.html

A good friend of mine works for a top SA nutritional company as the head salesman in the western cape.

His clients are all the major rugby sides WP (where he has a box), boland, villagers etc etc.

But also some of his biggest clients are schools.... the majors such as Bishops, Paul Roos, Paarl Gim etc etc.

Once you are on the protein shakes, the creatine serum etc its not that big a jump to other products.

We all know that there is a lot pressure on these kids to perform and win both for their school and themselves.

Personally I see it as quite a problem in SA going all the way to the top.

Bathman_in_London wrote:I can't say its a huge surprise, I think it is a worldwide problem, well done to SAIDS for trying to deal with it.

Without saying anything libellous, I know for a fact that certainly not that long ago, students at a well know rugby playing college in the UK were taking peds, not 1 or 2 people, but a large minority.

You also wonder about the off season, when some young players seem to have huge phyiscal changes in just a few months.

This link isnt strictly rugby, but the fact that so many other sports were involved and not investigated is worrying: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/9816922/Spain-accused-of-a-doping-cover-up-as-doctor-implicated-in-cyclings-Operation-Puerto-scandal-goes-on-trial.html

That's one of the most obvious things to me. I see some young players coming back from a summer break and the growth just isn't credible. I've known one person with a bizarre medical condition that means he gains muscle really easily, he actually has to limit his protein intake to stop excessive growth - maybe the odd player or two has that, but I can't believe that they all do!

I agree that full WADA testing of juniors isn't possible, but you can train youth coaches to look out for signs of doping and encourage them to come forwards where they have suspicions. Plus making sure that young players are educated on the risks.

Never came accross any individual in the Irish school rugby system taking anything other that creatine which has been banned for a while now. It was previously allowed by the sport but not by my school. School policy prohibits all supplements. Some meat heads were taking creatine though on the sly. Apart from that there was hardly anyone taking supplements of any sort.

Irish schools rugby is very strict on this and players can be tested. Not sure if any testing has occured yet though. Irish schools players seem to be consistently smaller than other nations at the schools RWC and even the six nations so doubt there is much abuse occuring.

Creatine itself though is legal in most countries so I imagine it would be no surprise if other youth internationals were using it via shakes or serum.

I like the stance though the IRFU take.

Let youths worry more about skills rather than size... size will come and is easily developed... skills take time and its better in the LT.

I don't find this surprising at all.

Watching the U20s, one of the most noticeable things is just how much bigger and more developed the SA boys tend to be than the other nations. Am I the only one who has noticed it? I remember watching the 2010 U20 WC, and the SA captain (Arno Botha) was huge for a 20 year old. Not just big, but lean muscle you'd expect from a fully-developed, hard-trained adult.

fa0019 wrote:I like the stance though the IRFU take.

Let youths worry more about skills rather than size... size will come and is easily developed... skills take time and its better in the LT.

Absolutely agree.

One of the most admirable things about New Zealand rugby is that they often play rugby according to weight, not age, so that the larger players aren't made to look better than they are simply due to their size. It forces development of good basic skills, and flair in order to stand out.

I know they have age-group rugby teams, so maybe someone can clear up exactly where this weight-group rugby is played, whether it's in schools or clubs?

I know for a FACT that the Castlerock outhalf in the 1999 Leinster Senior Cup winning team was doping with testosterone.

Thats a gross over statement

If anything SA youth players are far far smaller than ENG and NZ guys especially.

fa0019 wrote:Thats a gross over statement

If anything SA youth players are far far smaller than ENG and NZ guys especially.

Really? Personally I don't think so at all.

Looking at the likes of Launchbury and Matthews compared to Etzebeth (who is actually younger), Eben is much larger. I don't think it's an over estimate at all. Compare Arno Botha to our U20 No.8 at the time, Alex Gray.

I'm by no means saying all SA players are doping at age-grade levels- far from it, but certainly there are some players developed beyond what would appear their natural means.

Submachine wrote:I know for a FACT that the Castlerock outhalf in the 1999 Leinster Senior Cup winning team was doping with testosterone.

Its a good thing he is a ficticious character. I believe that Blackrock really won in 1999. Interestingly some members of this Blackrock team would go on to be involved in the tragic death of Brian Murphy outside Annabels nightclub. One thing the media focused on at the time was the oversized nature of schools rugby players and questioned whether PEDs or ceratine contrabuted to the frenzied agression evident in the attack.

I believe that the recent movie release "What richard Did" is loosley based around this incident.

bluestonevedder wrote:
I'm by no means saying all SA players are doping at age-grade levels- far from it, but certainly there are some players developed beyond what would appear their natural means.

I don't really worry when I see big players - some people are just enormous. It's how quickly some bulk up that makes me suspicious as there are limits to how fast this can happen naturally. I have to say I would be absolutely amazed if there aren't players and even teams at both age grade and senior/pro level that get involved in doping in pretty much all countries and all sports. They may not be the majority but I'm pretty sure they will be there. The article above gives me far more respect for SA for actually trying to address the issue, rather than losing respect for the fact that some doping has been going on.

Just out of interest, I have often wondered, if you took peds during the off season or during any other time out of the game, but then were clean when you were actually in your teams colours, would you be in trouble?

Assuming that any tests taken would be negative?

Bathman_in_London wrote:Just out of interest, I have often wondered, if you took peds during the off season or during any other time out of the game, but then were clean when you were actually in your teams colours, would you be in trouble?

Assuming that any tests taken would be negative?

In essence you would have commited a doping offence and it would be punishable if you were caught. If you took the substance to improve your performance - even if that performance was a few months or even a year or two down the line - then you are doping, you can get an exemption if you needed something for medical reasons though. If you didn't get a positive test and nobody knew what you were doing you probably wouldn't be caught, but being guilty and being caught are of course different matters. There are other routes to being caught though, I'm pretty sure one Aussie athlete was caught when shipments he had ordered on-line were stopped by customs.

I think it is also used often in Wales but kept well on the lowdown. I don't hear of teams being drugs tested often either. When I was in college some of the guys must have been on it, mostly the second years. They were monsters. Never really heard anyone talk about steroids though but they were obsessed with creatine, protein shakes and dieting.

As for international teams, South Africa always seem to have the reputation for using steroids. A lot of their current players look as if they've done some cycles... Not really noticeable in their U20 teams. England have had the largest junior teams most recently, not NZ, who just have large second rows and rapid players with excellent skills.

This is horrifying. No one really knows what effects these can have on young bodies and minds. I wonder if Lance Armstrong's cancer had to do with the drugs he was on. I truly hope that these young men don't suffer for it.

Steroids are made for cancer patients...