Toulon flanker Steffon Armitage, who tested positive for morphine five months ago, was on Thursday cleared of any wrongdoing by the French Rugby Federation's appeals commission, the club reported.
The 26-year-old failed a control for the banned substance after the Top 14 Final which Toulon lost 18-12 against Toulouse on June 9.
The club always maintained the test showed an "abnormal" result as a side-effect of painkillers and anti-inflammatories which Toulon's medical staff had prescribed Armitage for back pain.
Toulon argued that the products were approved by the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD).
Armitage, who has five caps to his name for England, has been free to play since the beginning of the season, but was not included in the England squad for the upcoming series of November tests.
Comments
TVaddict says...
@APV1
You raise an interesting point, if he were to come back to an English club which would he come back to?
-Hopefully he'd come back to London Irish, the coaching staff are different from when he left and us fans would love to have him back. The only problem would be if he were set on trying somewhere new.
-Harlequins already have Robshaw and Wallace fighting for that position.
-I think he's not old fashioned enough for Leicester but they do need a 7 and are looking light in the back row department.
-Wouldn't suit Saracens style off play, though maybe they'd like to bring him in to encourage further develop their running game. Saracens seem like a great club to play for at the moment. They seem to have the best team culture, they have a good rotation policy so you know your not going to be over-played, and they are regularly making the playoffs and heineken cup. That plus the fact that one of the English coaches is a former Saracens coach means your more likely to be spotted.
-Northampton would like him but they already have a lot of options in the back row.
-He'd go great for Gloucester and I don't feel they have an out and out 7. I think this would be the best option as he'd thrive in their running rugby enviroment.
-Exeter would be an interesting choice as they like to throw the ball around, have a huge emphasis on fitness, and I think they've recently increased their revenue with the purchasing of the premiership shares. They seem to becoming a consistent contender for top 4 and I wouldn't be surprised to see them end up in the top 6 again.
-I think he'd suit Wasps as well, but they don't play enough top level rugby at the moment so not really an option.
-Same for Sale and Bath really, too inconsistent.
-Worcester and London Welsh are probably the favourites for relegation for the next couple of seasons so not really realistic options.
Posted 13:02 09th November 2012
APV1 says...
Great news.
Please come back to England - Bath could always do with more back-row talent, despite the fact that you'd be competing with Flo for the berth. Anywhere will do, but I'd like to see you with a red rose on your chest again.
Posted 10:27 09th November 2012
heart_of_oak says...
Best of luck to Steffon. How good it would be to see him playing for England but because of our stupid self inflicted rule, it's unlikely.
Posted 08:07 09th November 2012