Paul O’Connell hoping for ‘sensible explanation’ to Toulon doping claims

Paul O’Connell was planning to contact Toulon last night to hear his new club’s take on reports that it had been caught up in a criminal investigation involving pharmacists who are alleged to have illegally supplied the club with substances such as antibiotics and growth hormones.

Club president Mouard Boudjelall has insisted that the three-time European champions are “not affected by this doping affair” while the Marseille prosecutor, Brice Robin, has expressed concern over media reports of “doping” with the inquiry at such an early stage.

“Some of the lads told me about it before training, they’d obviously been reading a news website,” O’Connell told TV3. “So I don’t know anything about it, but I’ll be making a phone call this afternoon to see what the story is. It’s not a great thing to hear at all, no.