Just how big is drug abuse amongst N.Z Rugby players?

Only a month back Drug Free Sport New Zealand told us its investigation looking-into Josh Townshend on-line steroid shop, involved rugby players ‘mostly at the lower levels of sport’.  

A wee bit on Josh Townshend’s’ operation, before I address the crux of this post. 

Anyone buying performance enhancing products off his Clenbuterol site, all 100 odd known customers, knew what they were getting. 

They were not naive to this fact, just the belief they wouldn’t get caught.   

Those caught when Townshend went down were not largely what the N.Z Public think about as purchasers of performance enhancing drugs. 

His main clients weren’t Kiwi bodybuilders or cyclists. 

The largest recreational demographic were rugby players. 

Over half, if media reports are accurate and this story is constantly evolving.   

We were also told, as rugby circles raced into damage control, that no top players were involved. 

Just a bunch of no-name club players we were led to believe. 

Wrongly as the individual cases came to light.   

We’ve now learnt Clenbuterol clientele included a player from the female equivalent of The All Blacks (Black Ferns) and two NPC players. 

There are hundreds, if not thousands of sites on the net where anyone can but performance enhancing drugs. 

Not just out of the backrooms of Christchurch houses. 

Townshend’s operation was a global small-fry. 

What are the odds of other Kiwi rugby players purchasing steroids off an overseas site?

 

I am not being flippant or churlish when I say 100% chance this has occurred.       

Enough ‘smoke coming from the fire’ already for New Zealand Rugby to start testing schoolboy players.  

Steroid abuse within N.Z rugby is a marketing nightmare. 

Who wants to be involved with an athlete/team/sport where cheating is involved? 

Ask U.S Postal Service for the short-sharp-sweet answer to that one.  

So just how many drugs cheats are involved in N.Z Rugby?  

 

The starting mark is 50 + and counting.