Response to: ‘The search for size: a doping risk factor in adolescent rugby’

In these instances, SAIDS and the national sporting federation have jurisdiction over the athletes involved in the sporting event. Since 2009, 717 under-18 rugby players have been tested at the South African Rugby Union national youth rugby tournaments with an average of 1.1% of the tests (seven steroids and one stimulant) being positive (Galant, SA Institute of Drug Free Sport, personal communication). Table 1 Year Number of tests Number of positive tests 2009-2010 12 0 2010-2011 60 1 2011-2012 207 2 2012-2013 220 1 2013-2014 218 4 - 717 8 This is considerably lower than the 23% of positive tests referred to from the schools programme, 6 which, as I have pointed out, is biased and not exclusive to rugby players. [...]I would like to suggest that the numbers in table 1 be made more accurate, so they can be used for future comparisons of drug use in youth rugby players in South Africa.