Players at both the men’s and women’s Six Nations U18 festivals have taken a collective stance against doping in rugby.
Keep Rugby Clean t-shirts were on display at Wellington College, in Berkshire, England, during match-day two of the women’s festival and then again at Energia Park in Dublin, Ireland, as the men’s action resumed the following day.
Members of all participating teams donned the distinctive t-shirts during the warm-ups for their matches on Tuesday and Wednesday in a show of support for World Rugby’s anti-doping and awareness programme.
World Rugby launched Keep Rugby Clean in 2005 and it has supported players and team management across the game ever since.
The programme aims to deter doping by educating participants on their responsibilities, raising awareness of doping risks and fostering an ethical clean-sport ethos.
World Rugby also appointed educators to host an anti-doping outreach station at each festival on Friday, 14 April, which is the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) Play True Day.
The outreach stations are designed to provide players and team management from the participating nations – all of whom received anti-doping education in advance of the festivals in Berkshire and Dublin – with the opportunity to engage with accredited educators in a relaxed setting and further improve their anti-doping knowledge.
The outreach at the women’s festival has been organised in collaboration with UK Anti-doping and the Rugby Football Union, while Sport Ireland supported the outreach in Dublin.
For more information on the Keep Rugby Clean campaign please go to www.world.rugby/keep-rugby-clean
