By Paul Jones

Former Wales scrum-half Rhys Webb has insisted he will appeal a four-year ban from the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) for taking a growth hormone substance.

Webb, 35, tested positive in July 2023 and was provisionally banned the following month having joined French second-tier club Biarritz earlier in the year.

The ex-Ospreys half-back is now unable to train as a player, coach or work in an administrative role of a rugby team until June 21, 2027 — when he will be 38 years old.

https://twitter.com/cleans_letsrun/status/1811110944501580130

Webb’s lawyer Dominique Laplagne said they had sought legal support from France’s top administrative court.

“The sanction imposed on Rhys Webb is not final,” Laplagne said in a statement posted on the player’s Instagram page.

“We have immediately instructed a lawyer at the Conseil d’Etat (France’s highest administrative court) to lodge an appeal to overturn the AFLD’s decision.

“He has never undergone any other disciplinary procedure, of any kind, during his long career as a professional athlete and has never used any doping product, growth hormone in particular,” the statement added.

Former Wales scrum-half Rhys Webb given four-year ban for doping positive https://t.co/WOAGtKK8zf

— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) July 10, 2024

Webb played three Tests for the British and Irish Lions in 2017 and had announced his international retirement in May last year.

Laplagne also queried the AFLD’s “incompetencies” during the testing process, pointing to the separate samples taken by the body.

“The variability of the results between the two analyses of bottles A and B, only 6 weeks apart, with a drop in blood GH (growth hormone) of 31 percent, whereas a maximum of 15 to 20 percent is tolerated in any human biological assay, calls into question the reliability of the analysis,” Laplagne said in the statement.

“I ask that Rhys Webb’s presumption of innocence be respected and we’ll get the outcome he deserves,” Laplagne added.

https://twitter.com/BBCScrumV/status/1811086046886781029

Webb, who earned 40 Wales caps and two with the British and Irish Lions, had previously protested his innocence but the findings were confirmed following B sample analysis.

The backdated ban, which will expire in 2027 when Webb will be 38, could effectively end his career.

He is also unable to work as a coach or in an administrative position within sport during the period of the sanction.

A statement from the AFLD issued to French media confirmed Webb is prohibited from “participating, in any capacity whatsoever, in a competition authorised or organised by an organisation that is a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code or one of its members”.

Webb, who previously played for Bridgend, Aberavon, Ospreys, Toulon and Bath, had made just one appearance for Biarritz before he was suspended.

The French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) have handed a four-year suspension to Wales scrum-half Rhys Webb, 35, banning him from all playing and coaching until 2027, after a positive test for growth hormone last July.

Webb won two caps for the Lions (in 2017) and 40 for Wales.

— Ben Coles (@bencoles_) July 10, 2024