Welsh rugby player banned for two years after positive drugs test

A Welsh rugby player has been banned after taking a widely available supplement

A Welsh rugby player has been given a two-year ban for taking a prohibited supplement.

Jack Little, who plays for Beddau RFC, tested positive for Higenamine following an out of competition test. Higenamine is a specified beta-2-agonist and is prohibited at all times in the sport. Little becomes the seventh Welsh Rugby Union player to be currently banned by UKAD.

Little was tested during a random visit by doping officers to a training session at the Championship club in August last year. He was informed of the positive results and suspended on September 29, 2023.

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Mr Little said he had taken a supplement called “Shredabull Untamed 2.0”, purchased from a sports nutrition store in Cardiff, which contained an ingredient called ‘nandina domestica extract’, another name for Higenamine. The supplement is widely available from nutrition stores and online.

He said he took the supplement to assist with gym sessions as he attempted to recover from a shoulder injury, while he also claims a member of staff at the store recommended the supplement, and that he read the product label and noted that there were no “untoward substances”.

The 23-year-old accepted a two-year ban, which began on September 29 2023, and will expire on September 28 2025. UKAD accpeted his assertion that he took the banned substance unintentionally. He had only recently started training with the Championship club, having previously played for a club at a level where he was classified by UKAD as a recreational athlete.

The WRU confirmed he had received no anti-doping education at any of his previous clubs.

UKAD has reminded athletes that higenamine is a prohibited substance banned at all times and can often be listed by the following names:

• Nandina domestica
• Demethylcoclaurine
• Norcoclaurine
• Tinospora crispa
• Aconitum japonicum
• Gnetum Parvifolium
• Asarum hetertropoides