IRFU chief executive Philip Browne insisted that Munster's new signing Gerbrandt Grobler deserves a second chance but also added that the union intend to review their policy around signing players with a history of doping.
The South African second row was signed by previous Munster coach Rassie Erasmus last July.
He has been laid low by injury since then but his recent return to full training and his inclusion in the side to face Nottingham in the B & I Cup last Friday sparked a wave of commentary over his chequered past.
Grobler was banned from the game for two years after testing positive for the anabolic steroid drostanolone while he was still with Western Province.
Philip Browne of @IrishRugby talks to @RTESport about @Munsterrugby signing Gerbrandt Grobler #rterugby pic.twitter.com/u3t9mBtcqh
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) January 17, 2018
He returned to action for Racing 92 in October 2016 and moved onto Munster last summer.
Philip Browne said that both the IRFU and the province were aware of the Grobler's background when he signed for Munster but concluded that in this instance the player deserved a second chance.
The player had made a mistake, which Browne claimed was in "a very different rugby environment", and that he had paid for that mistake.
"The situation with Grobler is there was knowledge of his background, yes.
"The IRFU and Munster operate together in terms of bringing in foreign players. He was a young man in a very different rugby environment. He made a poor decision and he's been punished for that poor decision.
'Having said that, everyone deserves a second chance. Can any of you look at yourself in the mirror and say 'I've never made a poor decision in my life before?'
"I think it's 20/20 vision. Will we consider how we'll deal with a similar situation in the future? The answer is yes.
"I think we'll probably need to consider how we'll deal with a similar set of circumstances in the future. I think it's self-evident that that's something we do need to do."
"There will continue to be foreign players brought into Ireland for a number of reasons whether it's to make up the numbers in certain positions, whether it's to bring those cache players in to add value - and we know who those players are, we all can name them, who've added real value to what we're doing at provincial level.
"In terms of, are we going to bring in drug cheats? The answer is I don't think we are.
"But I think in this circumstance, there's a young man who made a poor decision in an environment which is very different to the environment that he's operating in now.
"At this stage, I think he's had a pretty torrid time over the last few weeks or ten days."
Browne offered a robust defence of the anti-doping procedures in Irish rugby, saying they were most stringent in the world.
He stressed that, in joining Munster, Grobler was entering a very different environment to the one in which he had broken doping rules.
"The first thing I'll say about it is the Irish rugby environment is probably the most stringent environment in terms of drug testing worldwide. And it has always been that case.
"The environment is different here because we are extremely well monitored and tested by Sport Ireland.
"In fact, the first anti-doping tribunal set up in this country was an anti-doping tribunal and an appeals tribunal set up by the IRFU in the late nineties which I set up. So, we have a strong policy in relation to these things.
"Do we need to consider what we would need to do in a similar set of circumstances that should arise in the future? The answer is yes, we should consider that."
