Only two anti-doping tests were carried out in the AIL last season, according to the IRFU’s annual reports.
The same documents show that just 34 tests have been conducted across the competition in the last decade, which involves an estimated player base of 3000 registered individuals each year.
Meanwhile, Sport Ireland hasn’t sanctioned a rugby player at any level since 2013, with only four cases in the last 20 years.
While those numbers suggest a sport largely free of doping, the limited testing in the AIL complicates the picture, making it difficult to decipher if the absence of sanctions reflects excellent compliance or a lack of detection.
Stephen Gore, Anti-Doping Officer for the IRFU, confirmed that all registered players in the AIL, across all divisions can be tested. That means an athlete had less than a 1% chance of being tested last season.
Players who spoke to this publication noticed this also. Matthew Sheehan, who played with both Garryowen and the UL Bohs from 2021 to 2025, “didn’t see or hear of any drug testing going on at all” during his time in the league.
Meanwhile, Mikey Veale, who spent five seasons with Garryowen, recalls testing occurring “once or twice” but “it’s not something that’s common, to be honest, unless it’s the final.”
A Freedom of Information request issued to Limerick Voice supports his claim, showing that a Doping Control Station was in place for the AIL final in the Aviva Stadium last April. This was the only instance in the released records that referenced Sample Collection Personnel attending an AIL fixture last season.
When asked if this level of testing was enough of a deterrent for players, the IRFU stated that “the selection of athletes for testing, as well as the overall number of tests conducted, is determined by Sport Ireland and World Rugby in line with WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency] requirements.”
The United Kingdom operate under these same requirements and continue to uncover doping infringements.
In the UK, 18 rugby players are currently serving bans for doping, accounting for almost 50% of all sanctioned athletes. Half of these players are 25 years of age or younger and compete at a ‘sub-elite’ level. In other words – young, impressionable athletes looking to take the next step in their career. These parameters suggest, if similar pressure exists in Ireland, that players at the AIL level would be most at risk.
Sheehan, who has a BSc in Sport and Exercise Science, feels “the standard of rugby in the AIL has grown immensely” in recent years, particularly the “physical training, preparation, power, and speed of the athletes.”
He believes the increased demand on players can create pressure to keep pace, and the current testing numbers alone wouldn’t be enough to deter someone from doping. He adds that doping violations could endanger other players due to the physicality of rugby.
Irish athletes are also not uniquely immune to the temptations of doping. A study conducted by Sport Ireland in 2017, during the period of zero sanctions for rugby, showed that four out of ten athletes were aware of other competitors taking banned substances. This came in a year where only one athlete was sanctioned across all sports.
There are some explanations for this, of course. For one, elite sport is a small world, and many athletes could be referencing the same individual. Veale echoes the belief that athletes would know if their peers were involved and is confident that no one in his club was doping because its “just something you’d hear about.”
Testing is not the only anti-doping measure – instead it works alongside education. The IRFU stated that AIL clubs “receive consistent anti-doping education through the IRFU’s online education portal.”
Additionally, AIL players must complete face-to-face sessions every four years and in the intervening years, education is reinforced through presentations and anti-doping wallet cards.
Sport Ireland were unable to provide a spokesperson but reinforced their commitment to “clean sport education”.
Whether this education is consistently delivered and retained is another question. “From what I can remember, there was never any education. There might have been the odd anti-doping bib that the support staff were wearing, but that would be about it,” Veale said. Sheehan echoed the sentiment, saying “there was no education provided”.
In Limerick, where the All-Ireland League still plays an important role, the AIL operates as a community game while also providing a pathway to professional rugby. The league holds a unique position in Irish rugby, with its large scale, amateur status and importance to player development.
As long as that pathway exists, the anti-doping measures designed to protect the players will remain part of the league’s reality.