Doping at the Rugby World Cup

[Mrs John Murphy]

Does anyone know what the testing regime is at the current world cup?

Because looking at how 'bulked up' a lot of the players are it seems to be more of a steroid users convention than a sporting event. It makes tennis and athletics seem restrained. I'm assuming that none of the players are worried about being busted.

Or is it all down to 'gym work' as the players tell it?

 

[cromagnon]

Look at the "big" players in the mid-nineties. They'd pass for fly-halves in today's game. With professionalism and financial rewards comes...

EAT WELL TRAIN AND REST AND DRINK MINERAL WATER

 

[Marcus135]

I don't know how the testing works but i know that all the players are tested for drugs at some point. As for being so big, they spend hours and hours in the guy. I'm currently in my final year at high school and i know players for our 1st team spend hours and hours in the gym each week to be big and this is at a relativly low level. So elite players at that level would spend much larger amounts of time at the gym to get big. I guess its just the way the games going.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

There was a good collection of before and after shots of various players. Gareth Thomas was one.

But its the elephant in the room that is never mentioned by the rugby media.

 

[Mambo95]

I have some sympathy for them. Don't dope in cycling and you lose a few races, don't dope in rugby and some 20 stone Samoan puts you in hospital.

 

[Catwhoorg]

There were a few South Africans sent home from their last tour to the UK for adverse findings, subsequently cleared due to accidental ingestion due to contaminated supplements.

Some nations have good out of competition testing regimes, the UK being one I'm most familiar with. Other nations seem not to be that bothered by it, or simply cannot afford a rigorous program.

Obviously its more about bulking agents in training, than anything during the games, so without strong out of competition testing you don't catch em.

 

[Catwhoorg]

I did find this:

The International Rugby Board says it is launching its biggest ever Rugby World Cup drugs testing regime at this year's tournament.

More than 300 tests will be carried out over the 44 days of the event and players can be targeted at any time.

Blood testing will be used more than ever before in a bid ensure the detection of human growth hormone, which builds muscle and aids recovery, while urine testing will still be used.

IRB anti-doping manager Tim Ricketts says the ability to detect and mask drugs is changing all the time and the board has to keep up.

The executive director of the International Rugby Players Association, Rob Nicholl, is wary of the crackdown.

Mr Nicholl says the IRB is focusing too much on mistakes players make with supplements or medicine, and too often penalises players for not following rigid testing rules when it should be hunting out the real drug cheats.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

300 tests sounds like a lot BUT there are 600 players involved in the competition.

So basically you've got a 50/50 chance of being tested.

Interesting to note that the superior 'fitness' of England and Scotland enabled them to beat Argentina and Romania. So I would imagine that EPO is quite popular for aiding recovery and also endurance.

 

[ferryman]

I fear the Scotland team haven't found the correct programme yet

 

[Altitude]

Of course they're jacked up on all sorts of things - I don't really blame them considering how insane that sport is. No cleaner than American Football

 

[palmerq]

I fear the Scotland team haven't found the correct programme yet

I think you might be right I don't think the rugby culture in scotland is one of doping, more like drinking and errr drinking

 

[Catwhoorg]

UK Anti-doping has issued 3 sanctions versus rugby players at the club level this year. (for offenses in 2010)

Methylhexaneamine in each case

 

[Midnightfright]

I think you might be right I don't think the rugby culture in scotland is one of doping, more like drinking and errr drinking

And from my personal experience putting peanuts in pints of guiness.

 

[craig1985]

At least it as bad as the AFL, they have a 3 strikes policy for any form of drug use (be it PEDs or recreational) and a confidental letter.

 

[palmerq]

how is paul from ramsey street doing in the afl?

 

[Ferminal]

At least it as bad as the AFL, they have a 3 strikes policy for any form of drug use (be it PEDs or recreational) and a confidental letter.

That is not at all true.

If someone breaks the anti-doping code they have to treat it as such. Of course it wouldn't surprise me if positive for PEDs have been swept under the rug.

 

[WillemS]

You can test during competition all you want (and testing only half of the players only once during a tournament is not that much), but if you're not testing much out-of-competition, it's just for show. Look every player is clean (at this moment, but we don't have a clue how come their training seems to work 300% better than 15 years ago)!

Are they doping? I don't know, but without ooc-testing, neither does anyone but the players, and their trainers and their doctors, themselves. I guess we just like big spectacles and circus acts, so why bother asking questions?

 

[Paco_P]

Does anyone know what the testing regime is at the current world cup?

Because looking at how 'bulked up' a lot of the players are it seems to be more of a steroid users convention than a sporting event. It makes tennis and athletics seem restrained. I'm assuming that none of the players are worried about being busted.

Or is it all down to 'gym work' as the players tell it?

Only the Argentianians and Italians are doping. The rest come from countries like England, Ireland, Australia, New Zeeland, and South Africa, in which there is no doping, because there are no Spaniards living there.

 

[spalco]

I don't know how the testing works but i know that all the players are tested for drugs at some point. As for being so big, they spend hours and hours in the guy. I'm currently in my final year at high school and i know players for our 1st team spend hours and hours in the gym each week to be big and this is at a relativly low level. So elite players at that level would spend much larger amounts of time at the gym to get big. I guess its just the way the games going.

There's only so much time you can spend in the gym and still expect results. More time doesn't necessarily equal bigger muscles. Anything more than 1-2 hours a day is pushing it, everything else is genetics and/or pharmaceutical assistance.

 

[WillemS]

There's only so much time you can spend in the gym and still expect results. More time doesn't necessarily equal bigger muscles. Anything more than 1-2 hours a day is pushing it, everything else is genetics and/or pharmaceutical assistance.

Actually, I think anymore will actually harm growth. The body needs time to recover from exercise and repair the intentional 'damage' done to the muscle. In that process of repairing the damage, the body overdoes this a bit, and thus grows more back than needed to restore the original muscle from before the exercise. Ergo, the overdoing causes the muscle to grow. Overtraining a not-yet repaired muscle causes the new growth to be disrupted and destroyed.

 

[wirral]

Players are much much more bulked up than they were 10 - 15 years ago and there's a lot, lot more money in the game nowadays.

 

[spalco]

Actually, I think anymore will actually harm growth. The body needs time to recover from exercise and repair the intentional 'damage' done to the muscle. In that process of repairing the damage, the body overdoes this a bit, and thus grows more back than needed to restore the original muscle from before the exercise. Ergo, the overdoing causes the muscle to grow. Overtraining a not-yet repaired muscle causes the new growth to be disrupted and destroyed.

I agree, you need rest too. Maybe those guys who spend "hours and hours" in the gym spend that time mostly joking around with each other or something, but that's not the reason they are so "big".

 

[Nederick]

Look at the "big" players in the mid-nineties. They'd pass for fly-halves in today's game. With professionalism and financial rewards comes...

EAT WELL TRAIN AND REST AND DRINK MINERAL WATER

big players in the 90's...
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/5947543/All-Blacks-pair-took-steroids-in-the-1990s

 

[Midnightfright]

I agree, you need rest too. Maybe those guys who spend "hours and hours" in the gym spend that time mostly joking around with each other or something, but that's not the reason they are so "big".

When I was doing lots of weight training I would normally spend about 2 and half hours to.do a 45 minute set, I would spend the rest of the time socializing so maybe your right.

 

[blackcat]

When I was doing lots of weight training I would normally spend about 2 and half hours to.do a 45 minute set, I would spend the rest of the time socializing so maybe your right.

why are sports players heads getting bigger?

Will never find a future pro sport athlete, especially a 7 footer, with a head the size of Kareem Abdul JAbbar.

Look at Shaq and Dwight Howard.