Top school rugby player tests positive for dope

School head furious at not being told

By LUXOLO MANTAMBO

BORDER schoolboy rugby has been hit by a doping scandal after one of its top players allegedly tested positive for a banned substance recently.

In what could become the biggest scandal to hit schoolboy rugby in the region, the 17-year-old Stirling High matric pupil allegedly tested positive during a random test taken at the U18 Craven Week held in Stellenbosch in July.

The Border team finished at the bottom of the table after failing to register a win. During the tournament two Border players were randomly chosen to be tested and one test came back positive.

The boy cannot be identified until he appears before a hearing.

While the Border Rugby Football Union (BRFU) confirmed that one of its players had allegedly tested positive for a banned substance, Stirling High School headmaster Charles Foster denied any knowledge of it.

The Daily Dispatch can confirm that the boy, together with his parents and principal, will make an appearance at the BRFU hearing at a secret venue in East London later this morning.

So serious is the situation that the county’s rugby ruling body, the South African Rugby Union (Saru), will fly down a delegation to be part of the hearing and the BRFU will be represented by its general manager, Leon Botha.

If found guilty, the boy could be banned for life.

BRFU officials were yesterday reluctant to release any information pertaining to the incident.

“We received communication from Saru telling us about this. Obviously, the boy is not guilty until a hearing finds him guilty of the offence,” said BRFU president Cliffie Pringle.

He described the situation as a very “sad reality” for schoolboy rugby and said that the BRFU viewed the offence seriously.

Pringle said the BRFU had to send out a strong message to other schoolboys when handling the matter.

But Foster said he was unaware that one of his pupils had allegedly tested positive for a banned substance.

“I’m enraged that the press can have information like this before a school principal knows it. I know nothing of that nature. The only thing I can say is, I have been asked to make myself available for a meeting on Thursday. I have no further comment,” Foster said.

Experts said drugs in schools rugby were not new. George Pappas of Westsiders, a section 21 company which specialises in drug awareness and detection programmes at schools, said he had seen hundreds of cases and all sorts of drug use.

Pappas works closely with the SAPS expert on drugs, Captain Jan Combrinck, and the two claim to have seen all sorts of drug use, including hard drugs, anabolic steroids and the use of hormones to enhance growth and performance.

Combrinck now spends his time travelling around South Africa to warn parents and teachers about the problem, but in some cases parents and teachers were part of the problem.

A family doctor, who asked not to be named but recently dealt with a case of school rugby doping in Port Elizabeth, said the dangers were big.

“(Performance enhancing drugs) can cause high blood pressure, kidney failure, abnormal growth and even cancer. It is also not unknown for kids to become moody and aggressive.”

She said she had been made aware of Schedule 5 testosterone medication, normally prescribed for hormonal imbalances, being injected as a performance enhancer.

Other drugs used are growth hormones for skeletal development, which is used to pump up the oxygen in blood carried to muscles. — Additional reporting by Piet Van Niekerk