(Reuters) – Western Force staff say they will rally round Kane Koteka following the flanker’s doping ban that has ruled him out of a return to Super Rugby Pacific this year.
Koteka, who did not play last season, was handed an 18-month doping ban this week, backdated to February last year, after returning a positive out-of-competition test result for Ostarine, a banned substance sometimes found in sports supplements, in December 2022.
Koteka, who won the team’s ‘Best and Fairest’ award in 2021, blamed “cross-contamination” by a former housemate who he said was taking Ostarine without his knowledge.
Australia’s anti-doping authority determined Koteka had established, to a “balance of probability standard”, that the presence of Ostarine in his system was likely due to cross-contamination.
“We’re very concerned and making sure that we are looking at our end and keeping in contact with the young man,” Force forwards coach Jimmy Duffy told reporters on Thursday.
“Difficult time, but the boys are all around him and making sure he’s getting through this as best he can.”
Koteka’s ban is another blow for Perth-based Force, who are bottom of the table and bring an 0-3 record into their home clash against Moana Pasifika on Friday.
Defending champions Canterbury Crusaders are the only other team yet to post a win after slumping to their worst start in Super Rugby since the inaugural season in 1996.
The Crusaders’ transition under new coach Rob Penney has been rocky and compounded by a growing injury toll.
They open round four on Friday at home against the high-flying Wellington Hurricanes, the only undefeated side in the competition.
With injuries hammering their halfback stocks and captain Scott Barrett ruled out for six weeks with a broken finger, the Crusaders face a huge task to put their title defence back on track against the Hurricanes.
Following surprise wins over New Zealand opponents, Australian teams’ early-season optimism will be put to the test when the ACT Brumbies play a Saturday afternoon clash against the Otago Highlanders in Dunedin, with both mid-table sides chasing a third win.
The New South Wales Waratahs, who upset the Crusaders in round two before a tight loss at home to the Highlanders last weekend, host the Auckland Blues in Sydney later on Saturday.
Wallabies prop and Melbourne Rebels’ marquee recruit Taniela Tupou will face his old side, the Queensland Reds on Friday.
The debt-ridden Rebels may be playing their last season in the competition but they have given fans something to cheer with two successive wins to lie fourth on the table, one below the Reds.
“Coming into this week I don’t want to look at it and make it personal,” said Tupou of facing his old Reds team mates.
“I will just try and focus on what we do here and do whatever it takes to get us the win.”
Upset by the Reds away last week, the second-placed Waikato Chiefs are glad to have returned home to Hamilton to take on Fijian Drua on Saturday as they search for a third win.
Away from the heat and the noise in Lautoka that helped them beat the Crusaders, the 10th-placed Drua may struggle to back up their first win of the season with another against the rejigged Chiefs, who welcome the return of two All Blacks on the bench in lock Josh Lord and midfielder Quinn Tupaea.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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