I suspected Wales player was doping, reveals Gatland

Warren Gatland has revealed that he suspected one of his Wales players was doping during his 12-year stint in charge of the national side.

Gatland stepped down from his role as Wales head coach following the Rugby World Cup, and the winner of three Six Nations Grand Slams is currently promoting an autobiography, Pride and Passion.

Asked on Irish radio station Off The Ball about the topic of doping in rugby union, Gatland noted his suspicions had been aroused by one player, but did not specify when that had occurred during his long time in charge of Wales, while also pointing out that it was an isolated incident.

“I think we all want [rugby] to stay as clean as we possibly can,” Gatland said.

“You know I haven’t come across personally any players from a Wales perspective that I would – well, sorry, maybe one. Maybe one, now that I think about it. He may have done, yeah.”

Gatland capped 137 players during his time in charge of Wales, and admitted that he had no evidence to suggest that the individual was, in fact, doping.

“It’s probably a little bit unfair of me to say I had suspicions about one of them, because I’ve got no evidence or anything like that,” he said. “Because it’s kind of like just saying, ‘Is there a possibility?’ It was more like a couple of people making jokes, sort of thing. And you go, ‘Oh, is that …’ ”

Gatland also stressed that he was firmly against younger players considering using drugs as a means to gain a competitive advantage. “I’d like to think that the sport is clean. From a New Zealand perspective, I think it’s pretty clean,” he said. “When you go down levels … We’re seeing positives in Wales as well at junior levels, and in other nations as well.

“There’s always that temptation in players wanting to try to play at a higher level and taking the risks of taking drugs. I definitely don’t condone that.”

The 56-year-old coach is poised to return to New Zealand to take charge of Super Rugby franchise the Chiefs after leading the Barbarians in a one-off fixture against Wales in Cardiff on Nov 30.