Scott MacLeod, the Scottish rugby union forward, has been suspended after a urine sample he provided was found to contain a higher than allowable level of testosterone.

The 29 year-old will now be unable to play or train with the national team and his club, the Scarlets, will also have to do without his services. MacLeod believes that he is innocent and has stated that his ‘B’ sample should now be tested.

A spokesman for the Scottish Rugby Union has confirmed that they have opened an investigation into the possible offence as part of their anti-doping regulatory process.

It is currently unclear how long this investigation will take but the suspension is a real blow for the Scottish player. The Scarlets dropped him from their team before Saturday’s match in the Heineken Cup, which they went on to lose.

It is now thought that he will miss the club’s final match at Stradey Park, scheduled for Friday night against Bristol in the EDF Energy Cup.

The club’s chief executive, Stuart Gallacher, released a statement about the situation, which confirmed that “Scott MacLeod will not be playing or training with the Scarlets until the matter has been resolved”.

Gallacher expressed his hope that the matter will be concluded as quickly as possible and revealed that the club will co-operate fully with both the player and the Scottish Rugby Union.

Scott MacLeod has won 21 caps for his country and was a key part of the national team that competed in last season’s RBS Six Nations championship. Concerns have now been raised over the potential impact of the doping investigation upon his participation in Scotland’s Test series, due to start on the 8th of November against New Zealand.

The following matches will see the national team compete against South Africa and Canada and the forward will be sorely missed if he is forced to sit the matches out.

MacLeod was involved in another controversial situation in February of this year, after he failed a doping test carried out during a training session with the national team. However, MacLeod was cleared after it became apparent that he had taken medication for asthma without official permission.

The player had been given a therapeutic use exemption for one specific type of asthma medication but did not notify the authorities when his prescription changed. After his original medication ran out, he started to take Terbutaline, which is on the World Anti-Doping Code Prohibited list.

Rugby players, and other sportsmen and women, are therefore unable to use the medication unless they are granted a therapeutic use exemption.

MacLeod was lucky to escape a one-year ban for this mistake and, at the time, he spoke of his relief at the leniency shown towards him: “I’m pleased that the panel accepted that I’d used Terbutaline inadvertently […] I’m just glad it’s over”.

The Scarlets' lock also stated that he would never make a similar mistake again so it will be interesting to view the outcome of the Scottish Rugby Union’s investigation.

Written by Charlotte Cook