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Dan Carter 'had drugs clearance'

Wellington - All Blacks legends Dan Carter and Joe Rokocoko followed medical protocols and did nothing wrong, their management company said on Friday, after a French report that they failed a drugs test.

Paris-based sports daily L'Equipe reported late Thursday that Carter and Rokocoko tested positive for steroids after their club Racing 92 beat Toulon in the French Top 14 final held in Barcelona in June.

Their Argentinian team-mate Juan Imhoff was also caught in the operation carried out by French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD), according to the paper.

It said that once alerted by the AFLD, the French Rugby Federation had 40 days to investigate the trio, who all played major roles in Racing's upset win over Toulon.

If the probe failed to find a medical reason for the corticosteroid use, then they could face disciplinary action.

However, Carter and Rokocoko's management company, Essentially Group, said they were "relaxed" about the situation because their club doctor had filled in all the required documents.

Simon Porter, an Auckland-based player agent with the group, said this meant they had a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) allowing them to use the medication.

"We have been aware of the issue for a few weeks," he told the New Zealand Herald.

"Our understanding and assurances we've had are all the documents around TUEs were in place."

Carter is widely regarded as the best flyhalf to ever play the game in a career that has made him one of rugby's modern greats.

The 34-year-old earned 112 Tests caps for the All Blacks before his international retirement late last year following New Zealand's successful Rugby World Cup defence in England.

Fiji-born Rokocoko was a blockbusting winger for the All Blacks from 2003-2010, scoring a phenomenal 46 tries in 68 Tests.

The report comes a day after All Black scrumhalf Aaron Smith admitted a toilet tryst with a mystery woman at a busy airport in Christchurch was a "huge mistake" - the latest scandal to hit the beleaguered New Zealand Rugby union.

It followed recent incidents involving Chiefs players and a stripper, and a promising teenage star's violent rampage.

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