South Africa’s Chiliboy Ralepelle and Bjorn Basson have failed doping tests and will play no further part in the tour of Britain and Ireland, the world champions announced on Monday.
The duo both returned positive test samples for the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine following the Springboks’ 23-21 win over Ireland in Dublin on Nov. 6.
Six Nations Rugby — who administer this month’s internationals — informed the South African Rugby Union of the positive tests late on Sunday.
SUSPENDED
As a result the pair are provisionally suspended from all rugby, including Saturday’s upcoming match against Scotland at Murrayfield and the Nov. 27 encounter against England.
The two were to return to South Africa on Monday.
Basson, 23, injured an ankle playing on the wing while winning his fourth cap in Saturday’s 29-25 win over Wales in Cardiff — a match where hooker Ralepelle came off the bench — and was due to return anyway.
RANDOM TESTING
The players were randomly drawn for testing by anti-doping officials following the Test at Lansdowne Road. Both Basson and Ralepelle have the right to request that their B sample be tested.
The 24-year-old Ralepelle, capped 18 times by South Africa, was the first black player to captain the national side against the World XV in Leicester two years ago.
Basson started the match against Ireland, while Ralepelle was an unused replacement.
STIMULANT FOUND
A South African Rugby Union statement said the pair “returned an adverse analytical finding for methylhexaneamine, a ‘non-specified stimulant’ on the prohibited substances list of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
It is scheduled to be re-classified as a ‘specified stimulant’ from Jan. 1, 2011.”
‘Non-specified’ means there are no concessions in the doping code for unintended use.
MEDAL STRIPPED
Methylhexaneamine was also the substance that led to Nigeria’s Osayemi Oludamola being stripped of her 100m gold medal at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games last month.
Although a stimulant that appears in some nasal decongestants, there are also concerns Methylhexaneamine could boost athletes’ heart-rates.
However, the fact its status is set to change in a matter of months could yet have a bearing on any disciplinary punishments handed out to either Basson or Ralepelle under the legal principle of lex mitior, which seeks to apply the more lenient penalty in cases where there is a relaxation of the law or, in this case, the doping code.
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