BRITISH RUGBY stars such as Danny Cipriani and Gavin Henson will be the targets next year of a new drug-testing programme in which they will have to detail exactly where they will be for an hour every day of the year, with players potentially being asked to give urine samples at home as early as 6am.

With the sport plunged into controversy over the “adverse finding” for testosterone, the male hormone, in the specimen of Scott MacLeod, the 29-year-old Scottish international lock, rugby union is determined to follow strict doping procedures as it bids to get a Sevens tournament included in the 2016 Olympics.

The “known whereabouts” programme has already been widely used in several sports, such as athletics, and resulted in a 12-month ban for Christine Ohuruogu when she missed three out-of-competition tests only to return from suspension to win world and Olympic 400m titles.

Any rugby player guilty of the same mistake faces a possible ban of between 12 and 24 months, under the new code drawn up by the World AntiDoping Agency (Wada), which comes into force on January 1.

The International Rugby Board (IRB) has signed up to the code and has instructed about 20 leading countries to follow the procedures, which are an important hurdle to clear if the sport is to join the Summer Games programme when the International Olympic Committee votes next October on the programme for 2016.