Springboks outcast Aphiwe Dyantyi finally has a doping offence hearing date
Springboks outcast Aphiwe Dyantyi has finally been given a date for his career-defining hearing into his 2019 doping offence which could see him banned for four years.
Now 26, the 13-times capped winger has been in limbo these past 13 months. It was August last year when Dyantyi, who had been in pre-World Cup training with the Springboks, was formally charged with a doping offence for multiple anabolic steroids and metabolites after his B-sample also tested positive.
That was when SA Rugby confirmed the South African Institute of Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) had detected an adverse analytical finding in the sample collected from the Springboks player in a doping test on July 2 while he was attending a South African training camp.
A statement at the time said: “SA Rugby, the Lions Rugby Company and Dyantyi are working with SAIDS, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and all other relevant authorities on the matter and no further comment can be made at this stage."
The player has been given a hearing date - September 15 - to finally explain himself after a year in which the 2018 World Rugby breakthrough player of the year was suspended and missed his country's World Cup win in Japan. According to @rugby365com, Khalid Galant, CEO of SAIDS, has said the hearing will now not be completely virtual as was initially thought.
Dyantyi has long protested his innocence, issuing a statement last year when he was formally charged. “I want to deny ever taking any prohibited substance, intentionally or negligently, to enhance my performance on the field," he said.
"I believe in hard work and fair play. I have never cheated and never will. The presence of this prohibited substance in my body has come as a massive shock to me and together with my management team and experts appointed by them, we are doing everything we can to get to the source of this and to prove my innocence.
“As a professional sportsman on national and international level, we get tested on a regular basis. I have been tested before and again since this test. Taking any prohibited substance would not only be irresponsible and something that I would never intentionally do. It would also be senseless and stupid."
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This article should have been written immediately after the final, not half a year later. While the content of the article is accurate with the references to the cruel bounce to Savea right before the try line, Etzebeth’s cynical infringement, and the inconsistent cards, some of the hyperbole emotional statements are unnecessary and gaslighting. The fact remains that the Springboks took their scoring opportunities. They had amazing defence throughout the entire match (limiting the ABs to one try is very respectable), their scrum was pretty good and they had quite a solid lineout despite having a part-time hooker throwing the ball in. Let’s give credit where credit is due and move forward. The Springboks won because they know how to win big games through strong defence and kicking, and they had lady luck on their side on the day. The All Blacks miraculously made the final despite everyone’s predictions and could’ve won the whole damn thing with 14 men who should’ve taken better advantage of their scoring chances and committed less mistakes (shoddy lineouts, dropped balls, some poor kicks and passing, etc), and an average coach and captain with some questionable tactics (Jordie kicking for goal late in the game from a dodgy position and perhaps the wrong game plan overall). Time to move on.
Go to commentsGreat mythology - no surprises Ox didn't talk about being driven backwards by Laulala in the RWC final!
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