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All Blacks coach alarmed nat sleeping pill abuse
All Blacks coach alarmed nat sleeping pill abuse

All Blacks coach alarmed at sleeping pill abuse

Sleeping pill abuse is emerging as a major problem among elite athletes and rugby union cannot afford to ignore the issue, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen warned yesterday. Hansen was speaking after the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) revealed last week that All Blacks Cory Jane and Israel Dagg took prescription sleeping pills while on a night out in Auckland during the 2011 World Cup. He said such behaviour was particularly concerning when the pills were mixed with energy drinks - a combination that reportedly achieves an amphetamine-like high without breaching doping rules. “The sleeping pills and the fizzy drink and the alcohol, if you keep continually doing it, is going to be harmful,” Hansen told a radio station. “Long term it’s not going to be a great thing for the athlete, and short term it can also create one or two problems with how they behave. That’s not the way the All Blacks want to live.” Australia’s National Rugby League said last week that it was introducing tests for sleeping pills amid rising concerns about their abuse. The move followed warnings issued to several New Zealand players about mixing sleeping pills and energy drinks at last year’s Rugby League World Cup in England, where the Kiwis reached the final only to go down 34-2 in a lacklustre display. In addition, Australian swimming great Grant Hackett sought treatment last month for addiction to sleeping medication Stilnox. The same drug was at the centre of a scandal involving the Australian men’s swim relay team at the London 2012 Olympics, when they used it at a “bonding session” and misbehaved at their living quarters. Hansen acknowledged that the All Blacks’ gruelling schedule was like being on a “ferris wheel”, but said they needed to be educated about finding less harmful ways to wind down. He said when Jane and Dagg were initially caught, the scale of the problem across the sporting world was not clear. “At that point, we thought it was an isolated incident and didn’t see it as a big issue. It’s now become apparent that’s not the case in other sports,” he said. “So are we going to be naive and ostriches and keep our heads in the sand, saying it couldn’t be happening in our sport?” Jane said yesterday that he could remember nothing about his infamous night out in 2011, describing the experience as “embarrassing” and “scary” - but insisted he did not intend to abuse the medication and had not mixed it with energy drinks. The winger said he and Dagg took two pills each - intending to go to bed - but made a last-minute decision to get something to eat nearby.

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Namibian Sun 2024-03-28

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Katima Mulilo: 19° | 37° Rundu: 17° | 33° Eenhana: 18° | 33° Oshakati: 20° | 31° Ruacana: 19° | 33° Tsumeb: 17° | 29° Otjiwarongo: 16° | 28° Omaruru: 18° | 31° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Gobabis: 17° | 28° Henties Bay: 16° | 19° Wind speed: 24km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 10:54, High tide: 04:57, Low Tide: 22:58, High tide: 17:16 Swakopmund: 15° | 17° Wind speed: 29km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:52, High tide: 04:55, Low Tide: 22:56, High tide: 17:14 Walvis Bay: 16° | 22° Wind speed: 33km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:52, High tide: 04:54, Low Tide: 22:56, High tide: 17:13 Rehoboth: 18° | 29° Mariental: 22° | 32° Keetmanshoop: 21° | 34° Aranos: 21° | 31° Lüderitz: 15° | 29° Ariamsvlei: 23° | 34° Oranjemund: 15° | 21° Luanda: 27° | 30° Gaborone: 20° | 32° Lubumbashi: 17° | 24° Mbabane: 15° | 23° Maseru: 12° | 28° Antananarivo: 16° | 27° Lilongwe: 17° | 29° Maputo: 20° | 28° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Cape Town: 17° | 23° Durban: 21° | 25° Johannesburg: 18° | 28° Dar es Salaam: 26° | 32° Lusaka: 18° | 30° Harare: 15° | 31° Currency: GBP to NAD 23.85 | EUR to NAD 20.41 | CNY to NAD 2.62 | USD to NAD 18.93 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.33 | EGP to NAD 0.39 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.74 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.8 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.32 | USD to AOA 832.63 | USD to BWP 13.71 | USD to EGP 47.35 | USD to KES 130.98 | USD to NGN 1415.13 | USD to ZAR 18.94 | USD to ZMW 25.01 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 74536 Up +0.85% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1528.69 Up +0.84% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 12986.94 Up +0.04% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 27559.35 Down -2.36% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - 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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 233.12/OZ UP +1.93% | Copper US$ 3.99/lb UP +0.12% | Zinc US$ 2 455.50/T UP 0% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.65/BBP UP +1.46% | Platinum US$ 908.62/OZ UP +1.53%