Former Cardiff Blues player took banned substance to buff up ahead of marriage proposal
A former Cardiff Blues lock has received a two-year ban for testing positive for a substance associated with steroid use.
Miles Normandale, then of Cardiff RFC, has been suspended from all sport for a period of two years following the Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV).
He claims to have taken the substance before an opportunity had presented itself for him to return to the sport in a professional capacity after an injury had all but ended his career.
Normandale played both professionally and on semi-professional level for Cardiff Blues, Rotherham Titans and Cardiff RFC.
On 17 November 2017 during a match for Cardiff RFC against Cross Keys RFC he suffered an injury to an ankle. Initially it was thought that he had sprained the ankle, but by early January 2018 it had become apparent that the injury was much more serious.
He required surgery, and on 29 January 2018 he underwent a right ankle arthroscopy and syndesmosis stabilisation. At around this time Normandale’s contract with Cardiff RFC was terminated since he had not been able to play for over six weeks; he received his final payment from Cardiff RFC on 31 January 2018.
The then 27-year-old was assigned to Southmead University Hospital for post-operative physiotherapy. He made slow progress and remained in pain with his ankle still swollen. However, he made a gradual, if slow, recovery with the metalwork in his ankle being surgically removed on 4 July 2018. Despite some complication by way of infection, the forward continued to build up his strength with gym sessions some 3-4 times a week.
It was in August 2018 that he told UKAD that he was contacted out of the blue by Cardiff RFC who enquired if he would be willing to return to playing rugby. Normandale’s evidence was that he had for some months thought his rugby playing days were over, but by August 2018 he was attracted by the idea of returning to semiprofessional rugby with Cardiff RFC and did so.
He signed a new contract dated 15 August 2018 and returned to training. His first match was against Newport RFC on 15 September 2018.
On 20 September 2018 Normandale was subject to a random urine and blood test by a UKAD Doping Control Officer during a Cardiff RFC training session. The urine test was found to be positive for Clomifene, a Prohibited Substance specified under S4 of the WADA Prohibited List as an anti-estrogenic substance.
It is a Specified Substance, and it is prohibited at all times, both in and out of competition. Although the blood test gave no positive result, UKAD were told in evidence that blood is not regularly tested for Clomifene.
Following the positive result, he was provisionally suspended.
Clomifene has a medical use for the stimulation of ovulation in women, but it has no established clinical indication for men. It is however used unofficially by anabolic steroid users to counteract the production of estrogen in males due to steroid abuse.
Giving evidence, the lock forward was the principal witness on his own behalf.
He explained that he wanted to improve his physique on a trip to Australia during which he intended to propose to his girlfriend, and a friend recommended Clomifene as a way of boosting testosterone. The friend gave him a week’s supply of, he thinks, 50 mg tablets of a brand called Serpafar at the beginning of April. He said that he took one 50mg tablet a day for seven days from 9 to 15 April, which was the week before he left for Australia and that was all the Clomifene he ever took.
He said that by this time he thought his rugby playing days were over. He had not played for many months following his ankle injury, his contract with Cardiff RFC had been terminated, and he had decided in consultation with his family no longer to undergo the physical risk of returning to rugby.
Rather, he hoped to concentrate on his tattooing career. According to the judgement, on 20 September 2018 Normandale was “undoubtedly subject” to the jurisdiction of the Welsh Rugby Union.
UKAD’s Chief Executive, Nicole Sapstead, said: “Athletes at all levels of sport must adhere to the principle of strict liability at all times.
“Image and Performance Enhancing Drugs (IPEDs) can remain in the body for a significant period of time so, regardless of whether an athlete is going through injury rehabilitation, taking a break from sport or actively competing, they must always be aware of the consequences of any substances they are putting into their systems.”
The period of ineligibility shall apply from the date of sample collection (20 September 2018) until midnight on 19 September 2020.
– source UKAD
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
2 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments