Paul Dearlove's exclusive column: Drugs in rugby - Part I: Performance enhancing

12 February 2009

In the latest of his exclusive weekly columns for FRC, Pau captain Paul Dearlove explores the drug problem facing aspiring rugby players tempted to take a short-cut to the top. In part one of a two-part investigation Paul gives his own insight into the murky world of  performance enhancing drugs.

The spectre of drugs in rugby has reared its head recently with a positive result (Matt Stevens – Bath and England front rower for recreational drugs). This raises two questions: (1) How prevalent is drug use (both performance enhancing and recreational) in rugby? And (2) What impact does it have?

Part 1 – Performance enhancing

A couple of years ago I was told by a fitness trainer that an eight week cycle of steroids could change my career. In his experience, a player that did just one cycle would maintain 60% of the gains he achieved. To put this in perspective, and both these examples are very achievable, this is what I could have 'achieved':

• If I gained 5Kg of muscle mass – even when I went off the drugs – I would keep three of those kilos.
• If I increased my explosiveness which allowed me to reduce my 100 metres time by one second, even if I never did another cycle of steroids, I would remain 0.6 of a second faster.

These numbers may not seem enormous but to gain that type of edge could mean the difference between being a good player and a star, a provincial representative or an international. And we know what else would change. The base salary, the access to endorsements, image rights. Without exaggerating, the difference could mean being a journeyman or a rugby millionaire.

Now I’m not saying you can do a cycle on 'roids and suddenly become a Lawrence Dallaglio, or maybe you can. You still need to work hard in the gym and on the training field. But we all do that. The guys who cheat, even though I understand why they do, gain a huge unfair advantage. A positive test for performance enhancing drugs should be a lifetime ban.

Bang, one strike and you’re out.

Now for all of you who are saying 'Don’t they test for these things now?' the answer is a partial 'yes'.

In France we have a blood test four times a year and also random urine testing. I have been randomly tested twice in three years. The random testing also takes place in pretty much every rugby nation. But this is nowhere near adequate to stop what is going on.

If a player decided to go on an eight-week cycle he could do it either in the off season or when he was injured, because random testing takes place after games.

For those interested in something a bit more technical there are water and oil based steroids. Water based can be out of your system in as little as a day, while oil based takes seven to 10 days.

Locker room chat would suggest that, at the top level, there is more than a little bit of performance enhancing drug taking going on. My estimate is that at least 5% of the guys playing top level rugby have used some form of performance enhancing drugs.

That means in the next international you watch – it is likely that at least one player out there - cheated to get there.

Something to think about going into a six nation’s weekend.

In next week's Part II I'll take a look at recreational drugs in rugby.

© Copyright FrenchRugbyClub.com. All rights reserved.