Wallabies halfback Nick Phipps is adamant social drugs are “absolutely not” widespread in Australian rugby despite Queensland Reds star Karmichael Hunt on Thursday pleading guilty to cocaine possession.
Code-hopping Hunt, in his first season of Super Rugby after stints in the NRL and AFL, was fined $2500 in a Gold Coast court for purchasing a total of 12.5 grams of the drug on four occasions from September 1 to October 3 last year.
Several Gold Coast Titans players, as well as former NRL stars, have also been caught up in the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission’s investigation that netted Hunt.
Phipps, though, said he had never come across social drugs and vouched for every member of the reigning Super Rugby champions after NSW Waratahs training on Thursday.
Asked if social drugs were widespread in rugby circles, Phipps said: “Absolutely not”.
“It’s pretty evident by the people that keep getting dragged into it that it’s definitely not a rugby thing,” he said.
“That’s a testament to the sport that we have, and to some of the characters we have in our game. We’re quite lucky … that nothing like that has ever come across my desk.
“So I wouldn’t know about it and neither would any of the other players actually. I’m confident in saying that.
“So that’s a thing for another code and for us … to brush it under the rug and move on.”
Phipps said there had never been any need for his state and national coach Michael Cheika to address the Waratahs about the dangers of using social drugs because the ARU and the Players’ Association constantly held their own educational forums.
“We’ve done that many modules and presentations through various different doctors, police, members of the community; they all come in all the time and speak to us,” he said.
“To be honest, the kind of blokes we have (in our game), no one’s really interested in that stuff anyway … it’s great that that education program is working for our code.”
Phipps estimated that he and every other Waratahs player were drug-tested by ASADA, WADA and the ARU between 12 to 15 times a season.
“So we get people rocking up all the time to our club,” he said.
“We get people turning up to our house – we’ve got three players at our house so they come around a little bit and just walk in at any time of the day to drug test us.
“I’m fine with that. A lot of people would say it’s an invasion of privacy but I couldn’t care less. As long as it’s keeping our code clean and out of trouble.
“I’m happy to do a drug test whenever they want.
“It’s also good to be able to show that record and how many times that people have been tested and have that confidence that the code’s clean.
“I wouldn’t even care if they upped it. It’s not a problem for us.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
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