La Rochelle flanker Oscar Jegou has been suspended after testing positive for cocaine, the reigning European champions announced on Thursday.

As a result of the positive test, Jegou, 20, told his club managers. The Top 14 team said in a statement that he “regrets having consumed (cocaine) in a festive and private setting, outside the La Rochelle group.”

“This information is a real shock for our club which places the education and training of its young people at the heart of its priorities, but it also illustrates the powerful rise of this social scourge,” La Rochelle said.

“This reality check will lead us to strengthen our internal prevention and control system to a maximum, to deal with this threat which preys particularly on our young people today.”

In the first three Top 14 games of this season, Jegou started two of them and scored a try against Lyon.

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