World Rugby is staging Keep Rugby Clean weekend at its World Cup in France ©Getty Images

Participating teams at the men's Rugby World Cup have been encouraged to support World Rugby's "Keep Rugby Clean" anti-doping programme.

Starting from Wednesday's (September 20) match between Italy and Uruguay in Nice, players have worn branded "Keep Rugby Clean" t-shirts during warm-ups.

Today and tomorrow mark Keep Rugby Clean weekend at the tournament in France, including enhanced stadium promotion and social media activity.

The Keep Rugby Clean programme aims to deter and prevent doping in the sport by providing education on responsibilities and doping risks.

Branded warm-up tops are among the initiatives promoting Keep Rugby Clean weekend ©Getty Images
Branded warm-up tops are among the initiatives promoting Keep Rugby Clean weekend ©Getty Images

World Rugby's director of anti-doping and game equipment Mike Earl claimed Keep Rugby Clean weekend demonstrated the sport's commitment to combating doping.

"The Keep Rugby Clean weekend at RWC [Rugby World Cup] 2023 is the perfect opportunity for everyone involved in elite rugby to show how much integrity matters to our game," he said.

"The teams and players who get involved are not stage-managed, they promote the campaign willingly, which sends a great message out to the wider world about just how seriously we take fairness and clean sport as a guiding principle of our game."

The Rugby World Cup is due to run until October 28.