Bernard Jackman says he has sympathy for Munster head coach Johann van Graan over the furore surrounding Gerbrandt Grobler and admits he can't decide on a position over players returning from drugs bans.
The 25-year-old second row has returned to full training with Munster this week and has been named in the ‘A’ side to face Nottingham in the B and I Cup on Friday.
The South African served a two-year ban for a positive test for the anabolic steroid drostanolone during his time with Western Province and questions have been raised to the morals of signing, and selecting, a player with such a past.
Grobler was brought to Munster by Van Graan’s predecessor Rassie Erasmus and the head coach insists that the player has served his time.
"I believe life is very simple. All of us sitting here, everybody in life makes mistakes. I believe life is 10 per cent what happens and 90 per cent how you react to it," he said earlier this week.
"He served his ban. He's worked really hard to get back to fitness and then in the warm-up game, which I saw here, he had a big injury and he had to fight his way back."
Speaking on 2fm’s Game On, RTÉ rugby analyst Jackman says he is struggling on his own stance on the topic.
"I’m really torn on this," he admitted. "It has never come up on my radar, the scenario where I have had the option of recruiting somebody coming back from a drugs ban.
"I don’t know what the answer is."
"I’m in two minds. In one way I say no, we shouldn’t sign him [hypothetically] and then I say, has he the right to come back and have redemption?
"I don’t know what the answer is."
The Dragons head coach says that the Munster head coach has found himself in an unfortunate situation not of his own doing.
"I feel sorry for Van Graan to a certain extent because he has inherited this. He needs the players to play and he has probably been thrown under the bus a little bit by Rassie.
"He signed for Racing 92 last year and we all knew in France his background. It didn’t really cause huge controversy there. It was mentioned in media reports, but then it died down.
"If there was a clear policy, then you take the case-by-case scenario out of it"
"He’s the first player I remember coming into Ireland who has that in his background."
"It’s something that potentially could come up again and if there was a clear policy, then you take the case-by-case scenario out of it."