The Rugby Football Union has confirmed that two Aviva Premiership players tested positive for recreational drug use last season.
The unnamed players, whose clubs are also undisclosed in the report, were fined £5,000 and sent on a drug rehabilitation course for the use of cocaine outside of competition time.
Only four violations for the use of performance-enhancing drugs appeared in the latest RFU annual anti-doping report, however, all of which came at amateur level, and the governing body believes that they are taking the correct stance to cut it out completely.
"It's an extremely low number of positive cases," RFU anti-doping manager Stephen Watkins told BBC Sport. "That's not to say it's not there, but if you compare those stats with wider general society, it's an incredibly low number of players who have been detected.
"We have tested a great deal in the Premiership consistently for over 10 years, with no violations. In terms of the amateur game, there's certainly work to be done in terms of education, especially in terms of the lower levels."
The two guilty players will be named and shamed if they are caught out a second time.
Daniel Lewis
