SA Rugby director of rugby Rassie Erasmus is hopeful that Aphiwe Dyantyi will return to his best form when he returns to action with the Sharks so that he can play for the Springboks again.
Erasmus gave his thoughts on Dyantyi’s impending return to action after serving a four-year doping suspension.
Dyantyi was suspended from all rugby in December 2019 after he failed to prove that he had inadvertently ingested the performance-enhancing substances methandienone, methyltestosterone and LGD-4033.
Shone for the Springboks
He was in fine form for South Africa after scoring six tries in 13 Tests in 2018 and was also named as World Rugby’s Breakthrough Player of the Year.
The former Lions wing failed his doping test during a Springbok training camp shortly before their triumphant 2019 Rugby World Cup campaign in Japan.
Erasmus believes it’s only fair that Dyantyi gets another chance to redeem himself.
“I believe in second chances. If there’s a ban, and that’s what the disciplinary decided, he’s served his ban, and it must have been tough on him,” he said.
“I really do hope he comes back through the pain, and I really hope he does well for the Sharks, from where we can hopefully pick him for the Boks again.
“I know there are a lot of people who don’t feel the same way, but that’s why there was a time period with the ban.”
Dyantyi is not the first Springbok to test positive for drugs, with former hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle currently serving an eight-year ban after he tested positive for anabolic steroid Zenarol in January 2019.
And while Erasmus said he would not judge, he said players are not fully aware of the consequences of a positive drugs Test.
“Look, I’m not judging him, but if you look at the penalty he paid, four years is not worth it, and four years is long,” Erasmus said.
Nonsensical to use drugs
“It would be nonsensical for a player, especially in this day in age, to do that because you just can’t get away with it.
“There are at least four to five players who are tested every day, especially over the past two years at every camp.
“There’s not a day that goes by without a player being tested and I don’t think you need something like that at the highest level.”
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