Wallabies checks help avoid drugs crisis
Wallabies medical staff headed off the kind of crisis which has rocked South African rugby with a thorough review of the supplements taken by players following the Delhi Commonwealth Games.
The Games prompted a warning about the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine, commonly known as DMAA, after a Nigerian sprinter was stripped of a gold medal.
Nine Australian athletes from various sports, but not Games representatives, also tested positive.
The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority issued the warning after a spike in positive tests for DMAA, highlighting the risks of using supplements such as energy drinks.
Two Springboks, Chiliboy Ralepelle and Bjorn Basson, have been sent home from the side's grand slam tour after their A tests came back positive following last weekend's Test win over Ireland.
They face two-year bans if their B tests also come back positive.
Methylhexaneamine is used in some cold and flu treatments but has also been described as a party drug.
Boks coach Peter de Villiers said his staff were frantically checking the supplements used by his players, a process the Australian side has already been through.
Wallabies centre Adam Ashley-Cooper said the majority of the Australian squad did use some kind of supplement and had been required to let medical staff examine it.
"We got word from camp out of Delhi so the doc, the Australian conditioning coach and our support staff were straight onto the job," Ashley-Cooper said.
"They saw the supplements we were taking and got it all checked out."
The Wallabies suspect the Springboks' problem was the result of an accident, and Ashley-Cooper said they applaud the rigorous testing despite its intrusion into their daily lives.
Professional sportspeople need to let drug testers know their whereabouts at all times, informing them by email if they are going to be away from their primary address.
They face a ban if they miss more than one test.
"If we travel a day out of this (address) or we go for a weekend somewhere we have to let them know," Ashley-Cooper said.
"We have to let them know where we are all the time, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
"It's a little frustrating but it's part of the sport and it's part of the territory."
Ashley-Cooper said young Australian winger James O'Connor had been tested after the Wallabies' last four Test matches.
"Everyone that plays the game wants to play in a fair competition," Ashley-Cooper said.
"As annoying as it is having to stay behind and test, at the end of the day the result and the outcome gives everyone a fair playing field."
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