Former Wales rugby boss Warren Gatland incredibly reveals he suspects one of his players was a drugs cheat
FORMER Wales rugby boss Warren Gatland has incredibly revealed he has "suspicions" one of his former players was a drugs cheat.
Gatland spent 12 trophy-laden years in charge of the Dragons - as well as leading two Lions tours - before leaving at the end of last month's World Cup.
The Kiwi, 56, whose Wales side finished fourth, did not reveal the identity of the player or when he might have played for his country.
Gatland made the revelation on the podcast in a general chat about doping in rugby.
He said: "You know I haven't come across, personally, any players that I've coached from a Wales perspective that I would... well, sorry, maybe one. Maybe one now that I think about it."
Asked if he had a suspicion about one of his former players, Gats added: "Yeah, maybe one, now that I think about it."
Quizzed if he played for Wales, Gatland replied: "Yeah. He may have done, yeah."
The former Ireland head coach later said he had no evidence and that it was just a hunch.
He said: "It's probably unfair of me to say I had suspicions because I've got no evidence or anything like that.
"It's kind of like just saying, 'is there a possibility?'"
Pressed on whether he felt it was his job to confront the star, Gatland said: "No, no. It was more like a couple of people making jokes sort of thing.
"The sad thing about professional sport, and whether it's team sport or individual sport, when money's involved, there's that potential for it to be exploited with performance-enhancing drugs.
"I think we all want it to stay as clean as we possibly can.
"I'd like to think that the sport is clean.
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"But when you go down levels... we're seeing positives in Wales at junior levels and in other nations as well.
"there's always that temptation in players wanting to try and play at a higher level and taking the risks by taking drugs.
"I definitely don't condone that."