Former Dragons favourite Rynard Landman has been banned from rugby for three years after failing a drugs test.

UK Anti-Doping announced on Tuesday the giant South African lock, who has largely lived in Wales for over a decade, has been banned after admitting the presence of anabolic steroid, nandrolone.

Landman, now 38, made 115 appearances for the Dragons after signing in 2014. He previously played for several South African sides including Leopards, Griquas and Cheetahs before becoming a crowd favourite at Rodney Parade.

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The former Dragons captain started playing for Newport RFC last season after a spell in France before his professional retirement. Landman was tested on August 8 last year at a Newport training session. He admitted the charge but said he had used nandrolone between June and August, 2023, when he had retired from professional rugby. He said that when he returned to playing rugby in November 2023, he assumed the substance would have cleared his system.

UKAD then received a preliminary expert opinion from Professor David Cowan, Professor Emeritus in Pharmaceutical Toxicology at King’s College London, on whether it was likely that Mr Landman’s admitted use of nandrolone in August 2023 would result in a failed test a year later. Professor Cowan considered it unlikely and UKAD refused to accept Landman's account.

He was banned for four years, with one year taken off for his acceptance of the charge.

The ban started on October 4, 2024 and will end on October 3, 2027. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.