England prop Matt Stevens has been banned for two years after a routine doping test showed he had used cocaine, European Rugby Cup said on Thursday. Stevens failed the test after playing a Heineken Cup match for Bath against Glasgow in December and was provisionally suspended in January, pending Thursday's independent judicial committee hearing in Glasgow. He will not be allowed to play again until Jan. 18, 2011, two years after he was charged with the offense. The news will come as a devastating blow to the 26-year-old, who had hoped that his admission that he used the recreational drug and commitment to seeking treatment would result in a shorter ban. Stevens, who has won 32 caps for England and would have been an automatic choice for this year's Six Nations, confessed last month that he was struggling with substance abuse.
