Wallaby admits to pre-match caffeine boost

AUSTRALIAN rugby captain George Gregan said he gets a 7% performance boost by taking caffeine tablets before big games.

He said many Wallabies take ‘No-Doz’ with the blessing of physiologists from the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), after caffeine was taken off the banned list 18 months ago.

“They did a test on it at the AIS, where I think it was based on a volume of maybe six tablets and no one in the team takes that,” Gregan said.

“Most guys take it before the game and that sustains them to half-time when they’ll do the usual thing of having water or a sports supplement drink.

“You can get 7% extra work output from taking these tablets and that’s a big increase.”

The use of caffeine tablets has been a major topic recently in Australian Rules football.

Australian Football League (AFL) chief Andrew Demetriou said last week the caffeine pills sent the wrong message for the game’s image.