Irish boss casts doubts on fears of doping culture

Joe Schmidt has challenged claims there may be a widespread problem with either legal supplement use or illegal drug-taking among rugby players in Ireland.

The issue of drugs in rugby has come to prominence with the publication of a book by former French prop Laurent Benezech and the subsequent focus on the matter by journalist Paul Kimmage.

“I think someone has written a book and a few other people, probably on the back of that, decided to highlight a few things,” said Schmidt yesterday. “But I would question the amount of evidence. One thing I am very aware of is how often they come into camp and get tested. We never know when they [drug testers] are coming in or who they are going to test.

“I don’t know of any positive tests during my time with Ireland.”

Jamie Heaslip gave a similar response when asked the same question last week, while Kimmage has claimed that “any sport that has a supplement culture at 16 is on a dodgy path”.

“I think that there are some really good guidelines that have been put out by the IRFU,” countered Schmidt. There are some supplements that, if a player chooses to take them, then if it is protein-based, or creatine or the like, it is not encouraged by the IRFU.

“What people do to try and get to an end-point... it is very difficult to contain what might happen in somebody’s home.

“To be honest, I haven’t seen too much that’s been written about it other than what’s been written very recently. I’ve read it almost like everyone else who has read it, like an outsider.”

The Ireland coach may work at the apex of the Irish rugby pyramid, but his son Tim’s participation in recent years in the Leinster Senior Cup with Terenure College has rounded out his education.

“I see school games and I see very much a range of sizes. I know my son played three years of Senior Cup and is, wringing wet, about 60 kilos. I can guarantee that, if there is any supplements he is taking, they either work very, very badly or there is nothing to be seen there. I can’t speak for other parents, but that’s my experience of schools’ rugby.

“My experience in the professional game is that the supplementation... if you burn 6,000 calories a day, you have to eat five meals a day and you know these guys have to fuel a massive calorie out-take. I don’t see any abuse of supplements in what I’ve been working with and, if there is such an abuse, then I am not the person to follow it up. There are people who are testing.

“People like Rod [McLaughlin, head of the IRFU’s medical services] are doing a super job. People who assure people are kept safe and particularly, obviously, in rugby in Ireland. Yeah, it is a difficult one to comment on and I am no different to anyone else, [in that] I am on the outside looking in.”