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Positive B sample leaves Top 14 forward facing drugs ban of up to four years
By Alex Shaw
Heyneke Meyer's transformation of Stade Francais continues at pace in the French capital, with the former Springbok coach having taken significant steps to mould the squad to his liking since his appointment last year.
Fellow South Africans James Hall, Lional Mapoe and Ruan Combrinck are all set to arrive this summer, while Argentina's Pablo Matera and Australia's Sefa Naivalu are among the other players that have been scouted and acquired by Meyer.
It was a disappointing debut season in charge for the 51-year-old as Stade only managed to finish eighth in the Top 14, missing out on qualification for the Heineken Champions Cup in the 2019/20 season.
Preparations for the new season have also suffered a blow, with L'Equipe reporting that back row Hendre Stassen could be facing a ban of up to four years after the South African tested positive for steroid use.
Stassen tested positive on a sample that was taken after Stade's game against Montpellier back in May and although the 21-year-old requested that his B sample also be tested, that too was found to give a positive result.
The lock had been informed on July 10 that his sample had produced an abnormal testosterone result and was initially suspended, and he will meet on Tuesday with the AFLD (French Agency for the Fight Against Doping) and his lawyer, Olivier Martin.
The most recent case of doping in the Top 14 occurred in 2014 when Toulouse's Chiliboy Ralepelle tested positive for drostanolene. The South African hooker subsequently served a two-year-ban before returning to professional rugby with the Sharks, where he once again tested positive for steroid use.
Stassen had established himself as a key piece in Meyer's jigsaw at Stade last season and his loss would prove to be a substantial blow for the club. Should Stassen be found guilty of doping, his ban will range from two to four years.
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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