r/rugbyunion • u/Die_Revenant Sharks • 22h ago
Article Ntlabakanye tests positive for non performance enhancing substance
https://www.news24.com/sport/rugby/rugbychampionship/bok-prop-ntlabakanye-tests-positive-for-banned-substance-out-of-nz-tour-20250824-087065
u/AwakenTheBacon_ Australia 21h ago
Whats non performance enhancing and banned but physician/doctor prescribed. Painkiller that he wasnt allowed to use in competition?
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u/k0bra3eak Doktor Erasmus 21h ago
Heart meds or painkiller are the most likely ones
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u/AwakenTheBacon_ Australia 21h ago
Heart meds tend to be performance enhancing I thought. Like all the angina meds that russian athletes "grandpas" were taking.
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u/neverbeenstardust #1 Alia Bitonci Fan 13h ago
Heart meds are banned? There goes my dream of making it in rugby <- Already can't throw, catch, or run
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u/corruptboomerang Reds 21h ago
Those two trend to be prescribed by a medical professional... I at least, don't go around taking random medication without medical advice.
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u/k0bra3eak Doktor Erasmus 21h ago
The non-performance enhancing substance for which he tested positive was prescribed by a specialist physician early in 2025 for medical reasons and taken with the approval and the supervision of a medical doctor
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u/corruptboomerang Reds 21h ago
Oh fair. Why the heck has this been reported. It's non-performance enhancing and prescribed. Why is it banned?
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u/HazzaTron9000 16h ago
Just because you have a prescription doesn’t give you a free pass.
If you need a drug that is on the banned list (that has no alternatives), you apply for a TUE (Therapeutic Use Exemption).
That then goes to a panel where a panel of experienced physicians in that particular specialty who pour over the patient history as documented by the physician who has prescribed the medication.
If you don’t have a TUE already for that medication, post test some of the medications on the banned list qualify for a TUE if you’re not already an athlete on the RTP (Registered Testing Pool).
That provision is usually for athletes who are competing nationally but not internationally.
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u/Catch_022 South Africa 14h ago
That sounds fair and something he/his doctor should know and have applied for.
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u/dystopianrugby Eagles Up 16h ago
There are thousands of banned drugs. Regardless of being "performance enhancing".
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u/Die_Revenant Sharks 21h ago
Weed is legal in SA and can be doctor prescribed. Or maybe some kind of asthma medicine with something like Albuterol? I'd assume that's performance enhancing though.
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u/oalfonso Northampton Saints 20h ago
Legal doesn’t mean it is allowed from a doping perspective. But if there is a prescription nothing can be done.
Sky team in cycling abused the therapeutic exceptions for example.
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u/Die_Revenant Sharks 20h ago
No i mean maybe he consumed it because it is legal here, not that it makes it an unbanned substance.
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u/Cuichulain England 21h ago
Masking agent?
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u/BabooNHI Sharks 19h ago
I doubt a medical doctor in SA would risk prescribing such a thing. That kind of thing would be off book.
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u/Cuichulain England 17h ago
Well, obviously... unless SA doctors have some unusually high level of probity compared to the rest of the world, that's exactly how it's done.
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u/Die_Revenant Sharks 18h ago
Masking agent usually gets pinged as PEDs with B sample test to be done. That doesn't seem to be the case here.
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u/Cuichulain England 17h ago
True, SA rugby can plausibly describe it as non performance enchancing.
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u/TagMeInSkipIGotThis 11h ago
I obviously have no idea what it is or if this is the case, but IIRC there are non performance enhancing drugs that mask actual performance enhancing ones such that it renders any subsequent drug testing moot so it could just be a technicality type issue along those lines.
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u/Montemauri Zebre 21h ago
Was it a fucking massive plate of chicken wings?
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u/cipher049 South Africa 21h ago
That and some steaks and pork chops, standard medication for a big boy.
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u/jnce12 Stormers 21h ago
Must have spent a night out with Rabada.
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u/Die_Revenant Sharks 21h ago
I mean, depending what industry you work in, coke can apparently be very performance enhancing lol.
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u/k0bra3eak Doktor Erasmus 21h ago
White powder and Joburg goes together too well
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u/perplexedtv Leinster 21h ago
Was it cake?
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u/CapeTownyToniTone I still believe in Libbok 5h ago
More likely just the icing, if you know what I mean
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u/oalfonso Northampton Saints 21h ago edited 20h ago
Meanwhile we still don’t know anything about the disappearance of a few Georgian players.
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u/Tar-ZA-n South Africa 21h ago
He's somewhat to blame for always maintaining such unbelievably peak fitness levels. Was always going to raise suspicions. "Daan's Farm", suuuuuuuuuure!
/s
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u/SignalButterscotch73 Scotland 21h ago
That's the one thing I don't get about drugs in sport. If its not performance enhancing why do sports governing bodies care?
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u/Sm4llsy Sale Sharks 21h ago
Player care I think. Stuff like really strong painkillers can be highly addictive. The sort of thing that would probably get tossed out like sweets in pro sport to make sure players are on the field.
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u/MonsMensae Western Province 21h ago
Yeah pain killers aren’t classified as performance enhancing but they can enhance your performance or get you to perform more.
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u/oalfonso Northampton Saints 21h ago
Because many are masking agents or substances that help to remove peds from the body ( many diuretics are in the list for this reason ).
If some of those substances are in the body without a prescription then something fishy is happening.
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u/squeak37 TIme to win Europe again 19h ago
Yeah, this is why I'm waiting for full details to be released. If these were ped masking drugs then they're banned for very good reason, and an SA rugby doctor should know better.
Non PED isn't quite as innocent as it may seem on the face of it
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u/CapeTownyToniTone I still believe in Libbok 5h ago
Those are usually grouped with PEDs though, no? And leads to a follow up sample which there's no statement about
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u/k0bra3eak Doktor Erasmus 21h ago
Health risks that could then come back to reflect on the sport
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u/perplexedtv Leinster 21h ago
If it's prescribed by a doctor what are the risks?
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u/HazzaTron9000 19h ago
Most Drs aren’t familiar with the WADA code and what’s banned - literally thousands of legal medications are banned because, even though it’s not the primary use for the medication, the substance can be performance enhancing. WADA doesn’t just ban random medications for fun.
That’s why a Dr’s prescription isn’t a way to get out of a drugs ban; and even though it’s being reported as “non-performance enhancing” it’s either banned because it is performance enhancing (even if that wasn’t the intention in this case) or it’s a recreational drug that has negative health effects.
It’s reported in the article that it’s a sports Dr - if he prescribed a banned medication (when there are most likely non-banned alternatives) it seems that he has messed up.
Either way, the athlete is ultimately held responsible under WADA rules for what’s in their body, no matter how it got there.
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u/MenlaOfTheBody Ireland 19h ago
How the fuck if it is prescribed and non performance enhancing does he not have a medical exemption waiver for it?
Especially since it appears like he declared it?
After working in this industry it seems like a massive medical admin fuck up on the surface.
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u/Brine-O-Driscoll Connacht 21h ago
There's no point speculating as we don't know what the substance is yet, but it's a shame to see this for Ntlabakanye.
This has been his break out year with the Boks and he's a fun player to watch.
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u/k0bra3eak Doktor Erasmus 22h ago
So a non-story?
Where's that one guy who's always going on about doping, sure he just popped a stiffy
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u/Die_Revenant Sharks 21h ago
I mean, curious to know what the substance is, I don't know the substance list well. Weed maybe? That's everywhere in SA.
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u/Calvin0213 Stormers 21h ago
Just did some research of my own.
Not every failed test means steroids, the list also bans things that aren’t really performance enhancing, like cannabis/THC, strong pain killers, common anti-inflammatories (prednisone, cortisone) if taken the wrong way, diuretics that just mask other drugs, beta blockers and unapproved/experimental meds.
Sometimes it’s not juicing, it’s weed, pain treatment, or cold meds at the wrong time.
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u/SuspiciousVoice5563 Sharks 20h ago
I mean it literally says non performance enhancing right there in the article and summary from OP.
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u/SpoonSpatula South Africa 19h ago edited 19h ago
That sucks. As others have said, I was about to say how disappointed I am in Ntlabakanye, but seems like he just followed the advice of the specialist. The real clown was the physician who prescribed the banned substance.
Hope there aren't any other skeletons in the closet, and that he can come back stronger.
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u/Calvin0213 Stormers 21h ago
Oh here we fucking go.
Maybe I should keep off this sub for the next week because it’s about to become a feeding frenzy if anything really comes of this.
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u/theGeorgeall South Africa 21h ago
It's non performance enhancement, apparently. Hopefully, that means people will be more level-headed with their hot takes.
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u/dildobaggin89 20h ago edited 20h ago
If it was prescribed by a doctor who specialises in medical affairs how did the drug slip through ? It’s a shame that he will miss the tour and it’ll bring bad media on a young player.
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u/HazzaTron9000 19h ago
The article makes it sound like a negligent sports Dr - but unfortunately even if that’s the case, the athlete will face a ban.
If it can be proved that he was given very bad advice the ban may be reduced, but all athletes subject to the WADA code are expected to double check all medications themselves and not just accept what a Dr, however highly regarded and respected tell them.
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u/wigbilly69 15h ago edited 15h ago
Just because a drug not a PED doesn't mean it doesn't have performance enhancing side effects. Pseudoephedrine, and to a greater extent, Ligandrol, are examples.
At the end of the day, any drug on the banned substances list is there for a reason. Having it prescribed by a doctor does not absolve this man of any responsibility, because at the end of the day he's the one ultimately responsible for what goes into his body.
Also, if you genuinely believe that there aren't people out there with certain doctor-athlete relationships who abuse diagnoses and prescriptions for the performance enhancing benefits that these banned drugs can give you, I have a bridge to sell you.
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u/RaaschyOG Cramp Haver 21h ago
At first I was a little shocked but then I read non-PED, what could he have even have gotten pinged for, weed, coke? I'm no athlete, but are recreational drugs that rare that this is the first case I've heard of in a while
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u/Evergreenthumb Golden Lions 21h ago
The article says it was prescribed to him by a doctor so I think we can rule out coke.
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u/Die_Revenant Sharks 21h ago edited 21h ago
Rabada got pinged and dropped out the last IPL for coke, so not uncommon. But I don't think it was anything like, since he says he didn't know it was a banned substance.
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u/JustAliff Malaysia 21h ago
I might be wrong but coke use was definitely a problem in rugby around the early 2000s
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u/RaaschyOG Cramp Haver 21h ago
Wasn't there a whole team caught doing it a few years ago, or was that in cricket, I don't remember lol
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u/JustAliff Malaysia 21h ago
Don't remember any cases like that a few years ago but in the 70s-80s it was a well known fact that most NBA teams were coked outta their minds.
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u/Top_Currency_6204 18h ago
Banned but performance enhancing generally are either:
Diuretic- things that can cover up the trace of other performance enhancing substances.
Extreme pain killers - opiates generally.
Illegal drugs - eg cocaine or
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u/dystopianrugby Eagles Up 16h ago
The press release is stupid, the Athlete is required to research global DRO if his medications are banned. His physician knowing he's in a tested sport needs to research medications. If these are required then he needs to seek alternatives that are not banned, or apply for a TUE before prescribing the medication.
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u/JustAliff Malaysia 22h ago edited 22h ago
Okay, so he claimed to have taken a 'non-enhancing' drug but to fail a doping test is still huge. They don't mess around with that shit at all.
I remember reading about Ryohei Yamanaka getting banned for applying moustache cream, although I'm not totally sure if it was a performance enhancing drug or not.
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u/MonsMensae Western Province 20h ago
SA drug testing don’t mess around. Can absolutely fail tests in SA for non enhancing.
I know a guy who’s career in an amateur sport was ruined for an out of competition weed test
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u/Die_Revenant Sharks 21h ago
I don't think he is claiming anything, the statement is clearly "non performance enhancing substance".
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u/JustAliff Malaysia 21h ago
Yeah, that's what I implied.
Getting caught with a banned substance flowing through your bloodstream is still a pretty big no-no, especially in sports.
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u/Die_Revenant Sharks 21h ago edited 21h ago
The banned substance list is actually quite big. From stimulants, to cannabinoids, to beta blockers.
Non performance enhancing is the part that matters.
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u/Efficient-Piglet88 England 21h ago
Its fucking huge. Its why they now have to inform kids about banned substances from a young age if they want to go pro because they can accidentally get done because they took a bulking powder or fat burner without thinking about it.
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u/Demosthenes_theWise Canada 21h ago
Many protein and shake brands now have specific formulas for athletes, that they “guarantee” does mot have anything on the banned list
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u/oalfonso Northampton Saints 20h ago
There is a world doping agency certification for supplement makers.
But there in recent times some athletes have questioned their positives using cross contamination as defense.
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u/_imba__ 21h ago
Hopefully they won’t be too harsh this time: “The non-performance enhancing substance for which he tested positive was prescribed by a specialist physician early in 2025 for medical reasons and taken with the approval and the supervision of a medical doctor specifically appointed to manage the medical affairs of professional rugby players”
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u/Thalassin Iserlohn Republic RFC 20h ago
We don't know anything about his case so I won't accuse him of anything, but the product being prescribed by a doctor isn't an indicator of cleanliness.
Almost every cyclist that got caught for stuff other than blood transmission got their stuff through complicit doctors. Complacent asthma medication prescription are everywhere in every sport. Medical doctors specifically appointed to manage the medical affairs of professional athletes were at the helm of the Russian doping networks, ...
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u/_imba__ 20h ago
“There was a doctor involved” wasn’t the sum total of the context they were trying to get across here. A) not cocaine as some would jump to due to a cricket incident and b) they are trying to say it was prescribed (ie papertrail) by a specialist physician, and cleared by a different doctor that was supposed to specifically checks player medication for banned substance.
Combine that with the fact that it’s non-performance enhancing and I’d say it’s better to give the benefit of the doubt until contradicting information surfaces.
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u/Die_Revenant Sharks 22h ago