Scotland’s long-serving doctor, James Robson discussed the use of medication in rugby on Keith Wood’s State of the Union. 

Dr. Robson explained that medication has its place in the game for “legitimate reasons” but it can’t just be “a smartie to be taken before a game to help you get through it”.

“If you need that smartie to get through the game, you should seriously think if you should be playing that game,” Dr. Robson added.

The subject of painkillers and anti-inflammatories has long been a hot topic in the rugby world.

Dr. Robson, who is also the SRU's chief medical officer explained that he believes education for players on this issue is vital. 

“If I can explain to players through education why it's important to not take that medication to get them through a game, they should understand that and hopefully comply.”

"With a contact sport you sometimes do need painkillers," but Dr. Robson recalled examples of players coming to him and saying “I'd quite like some painkillers”.

“I said to them, I’ll show you the studies that show that that painkiller is actually detrimental to performance and all of a sudden they backed off. They didn’t want them anymore.”

Dr. Robson has been on six different British and Irish lions tours. He also recalled an example of a player on a tour asking for medication because he had got it regularly with his club.  

“There are other ways that we could deal with this issue,” Dr. Robson told the player. The alternative was explained to the player and he accepted it. It's this type of explanation and dialogue that the experienced doctor thinks is integral to this issue.

"It's a constant process of education as you've got a new cohort of people coming through all the time so you’ve got to get the education in early."

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