KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand Rugby Union is firmly committed to banning prohibited substances from the sport, deputy chief executive Steve Tew said today.
French coach Bernard Laporte has questioned whether New Zealand and English rugby has as stringent an anti-drugs policy as in France.
"We find it disappointing," Tew said of Laporte's comments, made to a French newspaper.
"It doesn't reflect a very good understanding of the commitment that New Zealand in general, and rugby in particular, has made to a drug-free environment in this country."
Tew said New Zealand had led the way in ensuring there was a level playing field in a range of sports through drug-testing.
He noted that the director-general of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) was New Zealander David Howman, formerly chairman of Drug Free Sport NZ.
Drug Free Sport, a Crown entity, does the testing of rugby players in New Zealand.
"They are contracted by us and also the International Rugby Board to run totally independent and random drug-testing, both in and out of competition," Tew said.
"By out of competition, we mean players can be visited anywhere and at any time and asked to give a urine sample, and that happens."
He said professional opinion was that the testing did not need to extend to blood samples, as blood doping related mainly to endurance sports, like cycling.
"It's something that will be constantly reviewed, but we don't think at this stage that it's necessary."
Tew was mystified by a suggestion by Laporte that southern hemisphere players were more exposed to doping because there was more elite rugby played here.
"We're not sure where Mr Laporte is coming from in terms of his analysis of elite," Tew said.
"The money that has been offered to our players to play in France would suggest that it's pretty elite up there."
Laporte, whose French side face England at Twickenham on Saturday in the first of two tests, raised his doubts in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche.
"There is regular medical monitoring in France," he said.
"The player cannot dope himself. Well he can, but he will be caught. But what is happening in New Zealand or England? You cannot be sure of anything."
Laporte, who is set to become France's sports minister after his country hosts the World Cup, which begins next month, said the only certainty was testing at international matches.
"But they are only on urine and you have to go further than that," he said.
"The more elite rugby there is, as in the Southern Hemisphere, the more people are exposed to doping."
England's Rugby Football Union reiterated that it condemned the use or distribution of banned substances or methods as prohibited by Wada.
It also said it operated a robust programme of testing in an out of competition and it was the only rugby union to have its own full-time anti-doping officer.
- NZPA
