THG test for rugby stars

Players at the Rugby World Cup will be tested for the controversial new designer steroid THG, it was revealed today.

In a bid to demonstrate the International Rugby Board's anti-doping commitment at the sport's showpiece event, organisers have acted swiftly to discover whether the substance at the centre of the major new scandal has infiltrated the elite level of rugby.

World Cup organisers told Standard Sport they were busy organising the details of the announcement before informing officials from each country involved in the tournament.

Already, the anti-doping programme at the World Cup has been the most far-reaching in the event's history. Before the competition started, all participating Unions had half of their initial squad of 50 players subject to out-of-competition testing.

After each of the 48 matches here, two players from each team are tested, while doping control officials from the Australian Sports Drug Agency have been at squad training sessions to carry out random tests. Players were required to give samples as soon as they arrived in Australia-By the end of the tournament, more than 570 tests will have been conducted.

So far, there has been one positive test for the stimulant pseudo-ephedrine which was revealed during the qualifiers.