Former SA Schools prop Deon Botes handed four-year ban after positive nandrolone test

SAIDS has banned former SA Schools prop Deon Botes for four years after he tested positive for 19-norandrosterone and 19-noretiocholanolone — metabolites of nandrolone — at the U18 Craven Week in Mpumalanga last year.

Botes, who matriculated from Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool in 2025 and had already signed a Sharks contract, was tested on July 7, 2025 while representing the Blue Bulls at Hoërskool Middelburg. He had gone on to represent the SA Schools 'A' side during the U18 International Series before the positive result emerged.

After the A-sample returned positive, Botes requested B-sample analysis, which confirmed the original finding. SAIDS received the results on October 2 and notified Botes the following day. A formal hearing was held on June 11, 2026.

Botes argued he had used a product called "Testojoint" for shoulder pain and recovery, starting in April 2025 and increasing use to three to five capsules per week during June. His father had purchased several bottles for cash from an unidentified salesperson outside a pharmacy, with no receipt, batch number, expiry date or identifiable manufacturer. The container was labelled as a vitamin or joint supplement bearing the words "Ultimate Test Booster." Testojoint was not recorded on Botes's Doping Control Form.

The panel accepted that Botes and his family gave evidence sincerely and made substantial efforts to identify an innocent explanation, but found that he had not established how the prohibited substance entered his system or that the violation was unintentional.

"The Athlete denied deliberate doping. He relied on his shoulder complaint, his long-standing rugby participation, the fact that he had already signed a Sharks contract, and the absence of any rational reason to risk that future," the SAIDS report states. "Those matters are relevant to the Panel's assessment of the Athlete's credibility and his case on non-intent, but they do not establish how the prohibited substance entered his system."

The ban is treated as having commenced on August 25, 2025 and will expire at midnight on August 24, 2029.

Botes is the second junior player banned in 2026, following Wits loose forward Liam Santos, who received a three-year ban earlier this year. Junior Springbok prop Kai Pratt meanwhile remains in limbo, still awaiting B-sample results after testing positive for a prohibited substance in April.