Wales and Lions coach Rob Howley believes Matt Stevens' failed drug test will serve as a sharp reminder to all players about the potential pitfalls of their celebrity status.

Stevens, 26, faces a maximum two-year ban after testing positive for a recreational drug following Bath's Heineken Cup win over Glasgow on December 7.

The England prop confessed to having developed a substance problem which, he explained, had "basically ruined my life up until this point".

Howley was saddened when his Wales coaching colleague Neil Jenkins phoned him with the news about Stevens, a probable Lions tourist to South Africa this summer.

"I don't know Matt very well. He is an exceptional rugby player, a great talent. Matt had a responsibility as a rugby player.

Unfortunately, the social side of drugs, his celebrity, got in the way," said Howley, speaking at a Sport Journalists' Association event.

"It just shows that you have to be very mindful of the pitfalls that the celebrity status brings when you are an international rugby player or football player or tennis player."

The growing celebrity of modern-day rugby players, some of whom now attract a paparazzi following and column inches in the gossip pages, poses its own set of challenges for the coaches.

But for all the support given to players by their club or in camp with the national team, Howley stressed they are all ultimately responsible for their own actions.

"You can't support players 24/7," Howley said.

"Professional players are looked after and the management try to provide everything they can. When they are in camp you are able to put things in place, from rehab to nutrition.

"But there will be a time when those players go back home and they have got a responsibility to themselves, to the squad, to the management and to their families."

Wendell Sailor, the Australian dual international, received a two-year ban in 2006 after testing positive for cocaine. He returned to competitive sport last year with NRL side St George-Illawarra.

Stevens would have been a cornerstone of the England squad at the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.

All his Lions ambitions have now been put on hold and should he receive a two-year ban - the maximum sanction for a first-time offence - his chances of appearing at the World Cup would be slim.

"When you read what Matt says I genuinely feel very sorry for him," Howley added.

"It is a social drug, it is a habit, an illness, an addiction. I am certain through the RFU, through Bath and through his family he will have many supporters and hopefully he will get through these dark times and become a better person for it. It is sad."