Not impressed.

Former Ireland and Leinster centre Gordon Darcy has blasted South Africa for their “greying culture of cheating” following Aphiwe Dyantyi’s return to rugby.

The winger made his return to the professional game recently following a four-year ban for doping.

Dyantyi burst onto the scene in 2018, earning 13 caps for the Springboks, and was named World Rugby’s breakthrough player of the year before testing positive for metandienone, methyltestosterone, and LGD-4033.

But he’s now back playing rugby with the Sharks and Darcy is not impressed.

“Time and again, South Africa’s record with this stuff is questionable, to say the least. Just this summer, their playmaker Elton Jantjies had to withdraw from the wider Springbok World Cup squad after testing positive for an anabolic steroid,” Darcy wrote in his Irish Times column.

“In 2020, former South Africa hooker Mahlatse ‘Chiliboy’ Ralepelle was banned for eight years after he tested positive for a banned substance for the third time in a decade.

“These aren’t obscure players. Dyantyi was World Rugby’s breakthrough player of the year in 2018. Jantjies and Ralepelle both played for the Springboks on and off for over a decade. Imagine equivalent Irish players serving long doping bans. Imagine the kind of reception they would get when they came back.

“Yet here’s Rassie Erasmus on Dyantyi earlier this summer. ‘I really hope that he comes back with a bang and he does really well for the Sharks. And I hope we can one day pick him for the Springboks again.’

“Even with the caveat that everyone deserves a second chance, this type of ringing endorsement for a proven doper contributes towards a greying culture of cheating.”