Page 86

BELOW Fiji qualified for Rio 2016 by winning the HSBC World Sevens Series86 WORLD RUGBY YEAR IN REVIEW 2015World Rugby conducted the most extensive Rugby World Cup anti-doping testing programme to date during England 2015.The intelligence-led, targeted programme saw 468 samples collected between in-competition (200) and out-of-competition (268) testing across all 20 participating teams during the tournament.Run in partnership with UK Anti-Doping (UKAD), who were the official sample collection organisation for Rugby World Cup 2015, the programme has recorded no adverse analytical findings to date. The testing programme included a mix of urine (317 samples collected) and blood (151). All samples were analysed by the Drug Control Centre at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited laboratory at King’s College, London. Samples will be stored for future re-analysis in line with previous events.England 2015 was the first Rugby World Cup to feature In 2015, the focus for World Rugby was on implementing a smart, intelligence-based testing programme in the lead-up to and during Rugby World Cup 2015.the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) programme following its introduction by World Rugby in 2013. Committed to ensuring the highest standards of testing and education programmes, World Rugby increased its targeted testing and education budget by nearly 30 per cent in 2015 with the ABP at the heart of the approach. The tournament testing programme was an extension of World Rugby’s existing anti-doping programme, which has seen more than 1,300 blood and urine tests undertaken across the teams in and out of competition between January and September. In 2015, a more intelligence-based programme was implemented to improve where and when testing is deployed and what specific analysis should be conducted. This comprehensive programme underscores World Rugby’s commitment to the promotion and maintenance of a clean sport for all.RWC 2015 also featured rugby’s biggest-ever Keep Rugby Clean Day with more than 600 players – including our newly recruited Keep Rugby Clean ambassador, England prop Dan Cole – and 500 team management showing their collective support against doping in rugby by wearing our rebranded #keeprugbyclean t-shirts on 26 September.Away from RWC 2015, qualification for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games took place across the men’s and women’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series and various regional tournaments in 2015. A robust testing programme was conducted at each of these tournaments to ensure that qualification was carried out on a level playing field.2015 also marked a significant shift in focus to be smarter about our testing programme and the data obtained during the year will help drive the programme in 2016 and beyond.KEEP RUGBY CLEANABOVE Keep Rugby Clean Day at Elland Road on 26 SeptemberWorld Rugby anti-doping cases in 2015Member UnionSubstance/ViolationSanctionWalesOxandrolone4 yearsThree other cases pendingRUGBY BUILDS CHARACTER | KEEP RUGBY CLEAN