WASPS FORWARD ASHLEY Johnson has been provisionally suspended by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) after failing an out-of-competition drugs test earlier this year.
The 31-year-old South African, who last played for the Premiership club at the start of March, is accused of testing positive for a ‘prohibited substance’ on 7 February 2018.
Johnson has been temporarily suspended while the sample is being investigated, Wasps confirmed in a statement this afternoon.
“The club is aware that a prohibited substance was reportedly found in an out-of-competition doping control sample provided by Ashley Johnson on February 7 2018,” it read.
“He has been provisionally suspended by the RFU pending final determination of the matter and is therefore currently unavailable for selection.
“Ashley is currently investigating the possible source of the substance and both he and the club are co-operating fully with the RFU in this respect.
“We are fully supportive of him in this process but are unable to comment any further at this stage due to the confidentiality of legal proceedings.”
Johnson, capped three times by the Springboks, joined Wasps in 2012 and has made 185 first-team appearances for the Premiership club.
He signed a new contract at the Ricoh Arena last November, and today’s announcement comes in the same week a Yorkshire Carnegie player, Brandon Staples, was handed a four-year suspension for testing positive for steroids.
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