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Pro D2 hooker banned by the French Anti-Doping Agency - report
By Liam Heagney
Colomiers hooker Youssef Saaidia has been temporarily suspended by the French Anti-Doping Agency ahead of the start of the new 2022/23 Pro D2 season. The 27-year-old had featured in tier-two matches for his club over the past seven seasons and he played 16 times in 2021/22, scoring six tries.
However, Saaidia is now risking a two-year suspension after it was reported by La Depeche on Saturday that he has not had any contact with the club since the beginning of July after he was found to have used a prohibited substance in a doping test that was conducted following the Colomiers playoff versus Oyonnax on May 20.
The report suggests that Saaidia didn’t pay attention to the composition of a food supplement and he has been suspended as a precaution ahead of the final decision from the French Anti-Doping Agency within the next six months.
Beaten 19-15 in their playoff by Oyonnax, Colomiers have moved quickly to fill the gap left by the suspension of Saaidia, a starter in eleven of their league games last season. La Depeche have reported that Andrew Ready, a 29-year-old hooker from the Western Force, will soon be unveiled on a two-year deal.
The Australian, who was stood down for an early-season game following a boozy flight from Melbourne, featured on 13 occasions for the Force in this year’s Super Rugby Pacific, starting six games and scoring four tries.
Promotion-chasing Colomiers finished last season in sixth place, winning 18 of their 30 regular season second-tier games. They will begin their new campaign at home to Carcassonne on August 26.
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While we were living in Belgium, French rugby was very easy to watch on tv and YouTube. Given the ghastly weather, riding indoors on a trainer and watching French rugby was a very passable experience. I became quite a fan.
Interestingly, last week in Buenos Aires I shared a table with a couple from Toulouse, who were at the Toulon game themselves, and were curious how much I knew about French club rugby. I explained the Brussels weather. They smiled and understood.
Now back in CA, biking again.
Go to commentsTotally agree.
It could be that Australia may not have top Coaches coaching at the elite level around the world? Only the ARU can answer that question. My prediction is Australia will beat Scotland and Ireland. Schmidt has now got the right players and tools to develop Australia into a formidable XV.
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