Oh, how the mighty have fallen... or at least, how they’ve stopped getting checked! South Africa, a powerhouse in the rugby world, has seen a staggering decline in drug testing over the last decade. This comes as a bit of a shocker given that they've been churning out more doped-up players than a pharmacy in flu season. According to the World Anti-Doping Agency, the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (Saids) slashed its rugby drug tests from a hearty 785 in 2015 to a measly 127 in 2024. Meanwhile, the Brits upped their game with UK Anti-Doping boosting its rugby tests from 998 to 1,241.
It's a peculiar trend, especially during the Springboks' golden run with consecutive World Cup wins in 2019 and 2023. In the same breath, South Africa has notched up 89 doping violations, which, if you're keeping score, is about 20% of the global total. The plot thickens with high-profile bans including 2019 heroes S’busiso Nkosi and Elton Jantjies, sidelined for three and four years respectively. Not to mention, the ongoing saga with current prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye, who’s battling two charges but hasn’t been benched yet.
“It’s a shame because there was a time – 10, 15 years ago – when the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport was really aggressive with its testing and it was on the front foot,”
lamented sports scientist Ross Tucker.
Saids CEO Khalid Galant pointed to tight budgets and the shutdown of South Africa’s Wada-accredited lab as the culprits, forcing them to ship samples overseas, which definitely isn’t cheap. He candidly admitted that the shrinkage in rugby’s slice of the testing pie was “not ideal.”
World Rugby chimed in too, ensuring that South African players weren't off the hook, as they remain under the global body’s watchful eye with year-round and competition testing, including surprise home visits. “Lab issues in South Africa have occurred before and where we face those issues in that country or any other, samples are shipped overseas, which is established and acceptable, provided shipment follows Wada guidelines,” explained a World Rugby spokesperson.
So, what’s next for the Boks and their testing turmoil? Will they clean up their act or continue to play in this murky gray area of sports ethics? Only time will tell, but for now, it seems the game’s integrity is dangling by a thread – and that thread is being tested less and less each year.
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Oh, how the mighty have fallen... or at least, how they’ve stopped getting checked! South Africa, a powerhouse in the rugby world, has seen a staggering decline in drug testing over the last decade. This comes as a bit of a shocker given that they've been churning out more doped-up players than a pharmacy in flu season. According to the World Anti-Doping Agency, the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (Saids) slashed its rugby drug tests from a hearty 785 in 2015 to a measly 127 in 2024. Meanwhile, the Brits upped their game with UK Anti-Doping boosting its rugby tests from 998 to 1,241.
It's a peculiar trend, especially during the Springboks' golden run with consecutive World Cup wins in 2019 and 2023. In the same breath, South Africa has notched up 89 doping violations, which, if you're keeping score, is about 20% of the global total. The plot thickens with high-profile bans including 2019 heroes S’busiso Nkosi and Elton Jantjies, sidelined for three and four years respectively. Not to mention, the ongoing saga with current prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye, who’s battling two charges but hasn’t been benched yet.
“It’s a shame because there was a time – 10, 15 years ago – when the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport was really aggressive with its testing and it was on the front foot,”
lamented sports scientist Ross Tucker.Saids CEO Khalid Galant pointed to tight budgets and the shutdown of South Africa’s Wada-accredited lab as the culprits, forcing them to ship samples overseas, which definitely isn’t cheap. He candidly admitted that the shrinkage in rugby’s slice of the testing pie was “not ideal.”
World Rugby chimed in too, ensuring that South African players weren't off the hook, as they remain under the global body’s watchful eye with year-round and competition testing, including surprise home visits. “Lab issues in South Africa have occurred before and where we face those issues in that country or any other, samples are shipped overseas, which is established and acceptable, provided shipment follows Wada guidelines,” explained a World Rugby spokesperson.
So, what’s next for the Boks and their testing turmoil? Will they clean up their act or continue to play in this murky gray area of sports ethics? Only time will tell, but for now, it seems the game’s integrity is dangling by a thread – and that thread is being tested less and less each year.