LactiGo for rugby league, rugby union, and AFL

The one strong trial on LactiGo was run on world-class rugby sevens players, so this is the sport the evidence is closest to. Match day timing, where it goes, and what that trial showed.

Match day

1. Change room, 30 to 45 minutes before the warm-up starts. Before strapping, tape, or tights.
2. Clean, dry legs. Quads, hamstrings, calves, glutes. About 5 pumps per leg, spread like sunscreen.
3. Rub in until dry. Then strap and dress.
4. Sunscreen 30 minutes later if it is a day game.
5. After the game: shower, dry, apply to the legs again if you want to. Within LactiGo's guidance.

For a squad, Go Packets (10 mL sachets) are simpler than a shared tube: one sachet per player, no pump counting. The clubs page covers the team program and logistics.

The rugby sevens trial

Beaven, James, McMaster, and Brockelbank, Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2025. Seven world-class rugby sevens players with 1,452 international caps between them. Triple-blind, counterbalanced crossover: each player did the protocol once with 10 mL of carnosine gel and once with a placebo gel, applied 40 minutes before. The protocol was 12 six-second maximal sprints on a bike with short rests and a two-minute half-time. Peak power was higher with the gel across the session and significantly higher in sprint 2, sprint 4, and sprint 7. Average power, heart rate, and perceived effort did not differ. Seven people is a small sample; muscle carnosine was not measured; the effect was on peak power in some sprints, not the whole session. LactiGo's own site calls this the All Blacks study. The full description, with the lab studies and the older footballer report, is on the research page.

Drug testing in league, union, and AFL

NRL, Rugby Australia, and the AFL all run anti-doping programs under Sport Integrity Australia and the WADA code. Carnosine is not a prohibited substance. LactiGo is Informed Sport certified, which means every batch is tested for banned substances before release and the batch list is public. A player who may be tested keeps the tube or the sachet wrapper with the batch number. How to check a batch.

Practical notes

• Training nights: apply before you leave work or home, not at the ground.
• Wet weather: once absorbed it does not wash off in rain or sweat.
• Juniors: no set age limit; LactiGo recommends parental guidance under 18.
• Townsville clubs: I am local, hold stock for trials, and can help with a team application. Contact me.

Checked 23 October 2026. Prices and policies are LactiGo's and may change. This page does not claim LactiGo will change your performance or recovery. Not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.