Wendell may play in France

Unconfirmed reports from Australia suggest the only way disgraced Wallaby Wendell Sailor can keep his career afloat is playing rugby in France.

Sailor is not talking following what most believe will be the end of the 32-year-old's on-field life in sport as his two-year ban for cocaine use kicks in. His contract, worth A$600,000 a year, has been torn up and some observers put the total cost of his indiscretion at $1 million in lost earnings.

The ban works across all compliant codes within the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) network, meaning Sailor cannot play rugby or league in Australia, New Zealand or the United Kingdom.

But some reports say there are legal loopholes in French law covering drug use which may leave a door open for Sailor.

Meanwhile, reaction to Sailor's ban has been swift and certain. Wayne Smith, rugby writer for The Australian newspaper, headed up a large article on Sailor's misdemeanours by saying: "He dropped the first ball he was thrown in rugby union and Wendell Sailor dropped the last."

Former Wallaby prop Dan Crowley said Sailor should rehabilitate himself by warning Australian youth of the dangers of drugs. "I feel sorry for his family but Wendell has made his bed and he has to lie in it," Crowley said.

New South Wales coach Ewen McKenzie called Sailor "a good guy" but added: "He's certainly done some damage and you have to pay the price if you've done the wrong thing."

Friend and Broncos league team-mate Allan Langer said: "He could still come back," but added "drugs should not be allowed in sport and you pay the consequences." Another former team-mate, Gorden Tallis, said: "He should count his lucky stars he is still alive, considering the damage these drugs can do."

His former Queensland rugby coach Andrew Slack said Sailor was really just "a big galoot" who had done the wrong thing and had to "cop it on the chin".

Describing the two-year suspension for Sailor as "very fair", former Wallaby skipper John Eales claimed big-money deals for the elite came laced with responsibility.

"No one is an angel, everyone makes mistakes," Eales told the Daily Telegraph. "But if something does happen, you have to be accountable. To take, you have to give, and when you sign a contract, you sign on as a role model."

Sailor's defects

1997: Charged with assaulting a man in a nightclub. Acquitted.

2000: Arrested after being drunk in public; spat in a woman's face in a nightclub. Fined $400 and paid $500 to the woman.

2005: Fight in Cape Town involving ice cubes gets out of control. Fined $500 by Wallabies for breaching team standards.

2006: Pushed a patron and vomited on footpath outside a Cape Town nightclub. Fined $4000 by Wallabies.