English prop Matt Stevens might be looking at the end of his professional rugby career after confirmation on Thursday that he will be banned for two years following a positive test for cocaine.

Stevens, who tested positive after his club Bath’s European Cup clash with Glasgow in December, received the ban from the tournament organisers after a hearing in Glasgow on Tuesday.

He will not be allowed to play again until January 18, 2011, two years after he was charged with the offence. He will miss this year’s Lions tour of South Africa and would appear to have little chance of featuring in the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.

Confirmation of the ban 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.

“Like any drug problem you don’t know it’s happening and then it mounts up and before you know it you have a problem and an illness,” he said.

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