The French rugby team was boosted by performance-enhancing drugs during the 1980s according to a new book, most famously in their ferocious 1986 defeat of the All Blacks in Nantes, reports The Guardian.
The book written by investigative journalist Pierre Ballester alleges the French players were “loaded” on stimulants when they ran onto La Beaujoire Stadium in Nantes, before inflicting a 16-3 defeat on New Zealand. The All Blacks had won the first Test 19-7 in Toulouse a week earlier.
Ballester quotes French team doctor at the time, Jacques Mombet, as saying the French use of amphetamines was most glaring in the game which became known as the “Battle of Nantes”.
“They each had their little pill in front of their plates for the meal before the match,” Mombet is quoted as saying in the book. “The Blacks realised that their opponents, unrecognisable from the previous week, were loaded.”
All Blacks No8 Wayne Shelford suffered a torn scrotum, lost several teeth and was knocked out cold during the Test. Years later he voiced his suspicion about the French improvement in the space of a week.
“I always believed they were high on uppers or something during that Test,” Shelford said. “I don’t think any team can come out to play like that after being beaten the way they were the week before. When they left their room you could see their eyes were all glazed. It was a brutal match.”