Rugby drug ban shock

IRISH club rugby has been rocked with the news that Ciaran Mooney, a member of the Thomond team from Limerick, has been banned for two years for the use of cocaine.

The Irish Rugby Football Union yesterday confirmed that Mooney had committed an offence under anti-doping laws.

Thomond compete in the second division of the AIB League.

Mooney was found to have a prohibited substance in a sample of urine collected after a Thomond v Old Crescent match on December 4 last year.

The Irish Sport Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel determined that the player had committed an anti-doping violation.

The Panel found that, contrary to Article 2.1 of the Irish Sports Council Anti-Doping Rules, the presence of a prohibited substance or its metabolite, cocaine, was found in a sample of his urine collected after the match in December.

Mooney has been sanctioned, subject to his right to appeal within 14 days, against the two-year ban which prohibits him from all sporting activity.

The ban is effective from the date of his provisional suspension, December 23.