Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
It’s just not on if local talent loses out to drugs cheats
HENRY ON GROBLER FURORE AS IRFU LOOKS AT ITS POLICY
CHRIS HENRY admits he would feel uncomfortable sharing a dressing room with a foreign drugs cheat whose recruitment blocked the pathway of young players.
The Ulster and Ireland flanker’s comments come in the wake of the outcry over Munster’s decision to sign Gerbrandt Grobler who served a two-year ban for taking performance enhancing substances.
It was revealed in 2015 that lock Grobler had been banned after testing positive for the anabolic steroid drostanolone following a match in the 2014 Currie Cup.
Henry did not name check the South African yesterday but suggested the promotion of past offenders at the expense of young indigenous talent is a dangerous route to go down.
He said: “Ultimately, if someone is going to take short cuts and it’s going to close the door for homegrown players from a province, then that is unacceptable. If you asked most players from Ireland, they would say the same thing.”
Meanwhile, IRFU chief Philip Browne (inset) has admitted it will reconsider recruitment policy in the wake of the Grobler controversy.
“If you were to ask me, ‘Do we have a specific policy for that specific set of circumstances’ the answer is, ‘No, we don’t,” said Browne, who explained he was not privvy to the decision to recruit Grobler. “So the reality is, do we need to consider having a policy for that particular set of circumstances? The answer is we need to consider that.
“The reality is there was a view taken, that there was a crying need for a second row in Munster.
“Tadhg Beirne (of Scarlets) was not available until this year and Rassie Erasmus – obviously with his knowledge of South African players – identified this player.
“A decision was taken to bring him in on the basis he’d been playing for a year in Racing, that he was medically cleared, he’d done his time.
“And the view was, ‘Here’s a young fella who made a rash decision, regrets it and at the end of the day he could make a contribution to Munster for a year’.
“Within an environment that is very different to any other, there are stringent anti-doping protocols and systems in place which we are proud of.”
Munster last night responded to questions about the decision to sign Grobler, 25, on a one-year deal.
The province responded: We support, and action, all efforts in ensuring and promoting a drug-free sport.
“All agree, including the player himself, that what he did in 2014 was wrong. Gerbrandt is an example to others, in particular our younger players, as to why you should not dope in sport – he nearly threw away his career because of a bad decision he made.”
Grobler has recovered from an ankle injury and is finally available for selection having lined out for Munster A last week.