AUTUMN INTERNATIONALS NEWS:THE SPRINGBOKS Grand Slam tour has been rocked by the news two of their players tested positive for a banned substance after their win over Ireland last Saturday week.
Chiliboy Ralepelle and Bjorn Basson have been provisionally suspended from all rugby and have returned to South Africa.
The Springboks are particularly concerned that the pair are the only members of their squad to have been tested on tour so far.
Ralepelle, the unused back-up hooker against Ireland, and Bjorn Basson, who played on the right wing and was returning home anyway after injuring his ankle in the win over Wales on Saturday, tested positive for the banned substance methylhexaneamine.
A statement by Six Nations Rugby Ltd – who administer the November internationals, and who test two players from each squad after each game – yesterday read: “Following preliminary reviews by an independent review board (comprising two individuals with considerable anti-doping expertise) it was determined, based on the information available, that anti-doping rule violations may have been committed.”
The players have the right to request their B sample be tested after they returned an adverse analytical finding for methylhexaneamine, which became a “non-specified stimulant” on the prohibited substances list of the World Anti-Doping Agency this year and is scheduled to be reclassified as a “specified stimulant” from January 1st, 2011.
“When I informed the two players that they had been tested positive they were both extremely shocked and disappointed,” said Springbok coach Peter de Villiers from their base in Edinburgh.
“The rest of the team were also gutted when they heard. I was informed of this at 2am this morning, and now we must follow the correct processes as laid down by the IRB.
“We have done quite a bit already, we are busy sending stuff for testing,” added de Villiers.
“Obviously we have to look at what might have caused this and we don’t want to put the players at risk. If there is something that we are taking as a squad that might have caused this then we must find that out now.”
De Villiers said eight players in the squad had been tested for banned substances before departure from South Africa and no traces of any banned substance had been discovered.
Team doctor Craig Roberts confirmed both players were on medication for flu symptoms, but he stressed the medication they were on has been in use for a long time without there being any problems.
“In terms of the IRB doping regulations the sanctions are less severe for this particular substance,” said Roberts. “The substance could come from many different sources, like the caffeine substances. What we are doing is going through the process of looking at all the possibilities and exhausting them one by one.
“Obviously we need to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible.”
Methylhexaneamine is used as a nasal decongestant, as well as treatment for hypertrophied or hyperplasic oral tissues. It is an active ingredient in party pills in New Zealand, and has also been marketed by certain companies as a dietary supplement in combination with caffeine and other ingredients.
The same stimulant was found in the urine of promising young Free State outhalf Johan Goosen recently, and he was banned for three months after his positive test.
During the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Nigerian athlete Damola Osayemi was stripped of her gold medal in the 100 metres after methylhexaneamine was detected during testing.
Another Nigerian athlete, Samuel Okon, who finished sixth in the 110 metres hurdles, also tested positive for the drug.
In October, Portuguese cyclists Rui Costa and his brother Mario tested positive for the substance, and nine Australian athletes have been found by the Australian Sports Anti-doping Authority to have tested positive for the substance.
