( CNN ) -- South African rugby union stars Chiliboy Ralepelle and Bjorn Basson are free to play again after their bans for testing positive for a prohibited stimulant were scrapped . The pair were charged after South Africa 's test match against Ireland in Dublin back in November 2010 after testing positive for a substance known as methylhexaneamine ( MHA ) . Ralepelle and Basson were immediately banned from rugby and sent home from the tour . The supplement was supplied to them by the South African medical team . But at a hearing in Cape Town , their advocate Attie Heyns successfully challenged the ban on the basis that MHA had been downgraded by the World Anti Doping Agency ( WADA ) . Ralepelle told the official South African Rugby Union ( SARU ) website : `` Finally the facts are out there and people can see that we were not guilty and are not doping cheats , '' he said . `` We were only doing what the large majority of professional rugby players around the world do by using a supplement . `` Bjorn and I were the unlucky ones to be tested on the day and to have had to go through the trauma of the past two-and-a-half months . We 're both now just looking forward to playing again and closing this chapter once and for all . '' The South African team , known as the Springboks , has now changed its approach to supplements and will not be issuing any to team members . The chief executive of SARU Jurie Roux added : `` This verdict completely quashes any idea that either the players or the team were guilty of any attempt to cheat . No responsibility attaches to the players at all . `` The banned stimulant was in a supplement given to the players in the warm-up before the test against Ireland and is a product that has been used by the Springboks before -- without any adverse analytical findings -- and is used by other professional and national teams in both hemispheres . `` That the players subsequently tested positive for a banned stimulant was an enormous shock to the Springbok team , management and to SARU and I am most sorry that the players have had to endure the stress and stigma attached to a failed dope test . `` Hopefully this verdict will have laid to rest any idea of any wrong doing on their part . ''
Chiliboy Ralepelle and Bjorn Basson free to play rugby for South Africa again . The Springboks have been without a coach since the departure of Francois Pienaar in November after he was sacked by the French Rugby Federation following an investigation into allegations that he had accepted bribes from The supplement was given to them by the South African team 's medical department . Ralepelle says he is pleased the case is over and that he has been cleared .