Pill-popping All Blacks in spotlight

New Zealand Rugby Unions officials admitted two prominent All Blacks abused prescription sleeping pills during the 2011 World Cup, but denied the practice was commonplace among professional players.

NZRU Chief Executive Steve Tew said Cory Jane and Israel Dagg "let themselves down" when they took pills on a night out in Auckland, just before the All Blacks' quarterfinal against Argentina.

During the World Cup, the champion All Blacks' management said Dagg and Jane had been disciplined for drinking, but made no mention of their taking sleeping pills.

Tew denied the drug abuse – details of which only emerged after media reports on Thursday – had been covered up, saying it was dealt with at the time.

"The incident that occurred that night was at a level that was dealt with internally by the team, we weren't covering anything up," he told reporters.

At the time, reports said the pair went on a drinking binge at an Auckland bar and were seen swaying and slurring their words.

Radio New Zealand reported on Thursday that players were mixing sleeping pills with alcohol or energy drinks to achieve an amphetamine-like high that does not breach doping codes.

It said that Jane and Dagg were not the only All Blacks to take such sleeping pill cocktails and the practice remained "prevalent at Super Rugby level".

Tew disputed this, saying the NZRU had not encountered any more cases since the World Cup, which the New Zealanders went on to win.

However, he said the organisation had surveyed coaches, doctors and others involved in the elite level of the game to see if they were aware of any issues.

"Our guys live in a very tight environment for a long period of time," he said.

"While we don't know about everything that happens in a team environment, it is hard to keep too many secrets."

He said the NZRU had no plans to introduce testing for sleeping pills, a move Australia's National Rugby League adopted this week.

Tew said that when properly prescribed by medics, sleeping pills had a legitimate function helping players adjust to the high level of travel in Super Rugby, which involves games in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

"It would be a big call to take sleeping pills out of our tool kit for teams travelling through multiple time zones constantly many times a year when you are expected to perform the next day in a very physically demanding game," he said.

The abuse of prescription drugs has been a hot issue in New Zealand after the country's Rugby League governing body said it was probing the national team after last year's World Cup in England.

Tew added fuel to the fire, saying Jane and Dagg, who were disciplined for drinking at the 2011 World Cup, had used sleeping pills on a big night out.

"At the time we struggled to understand how taking a sleeping pill could keep you up late at night and getting into trouble," local media quoted Tew as saying on Thursday.

"It still seems counter intuitive, doesn't it.

"They were drinking. There's no question about that. At the time there was mention of sleeping pills, but the key was they were out past the curfew, they were drinking two or three days before the quarterfinal.

"They let the team down, they let themselves down and it was dealt with as we'd expect them to be dealt with… As I understand it, it was almost as silly as let's have some sleeping pills and see who can stay up the longest."

Elite athletes across a range of sport take sleeping pills and prescription drugs to help them wind down after competition.

Australia's National Rugby League, the world's richest Rugby League competition, has also focused on concerns about players' abusing prescription drugs, and announced on Wednesday they would start testing players for several varieties.

Australia's Olympic committee banned its London delegation from taking Stilnox, a commonly prescribed sleeping bill, after former Olympic 1,500 metres champion swimmer Grant Hackett admitted to becoming dependent on them.

That did not stop members of Australia's 4x100m men's freestyle swimming team from taking them in an unauthorised 'bonding' session in the lead-up to London, a breach of discipline that saw them fined and reprimanded last year.

Sources: AFP & Reuters