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16th October 2015
06:06pm BST
Some have looked at the size of modern rugby players, and their powers of recovery, and drawn the conclusion that the use of performance enhancing drugs is rife.
Walsh's friend Paul Kimmage has spoken about the issue this year, much to the annoyance of Ireland prop Cian Healy and others.
Kimmage's inspiration was a book written by a former French professional Laurent Benezech on the medicalisation of the game in France and, while Walsh does not feel performance enhancing drugs are a widespread problem in rugby, he does think the use of painkillers and supplements could be an issue.
"Paul's argument about the rugby is valid in relation to France in terms of the medicalisation of the sport. It has become highly medicalised. If you can take cortisone legally, are they taking it? Yes they are.
"Are they taking it in a way that cortisone was never meant to be used? Probably, provided they can do it without putting themselves at risk of testing positive."
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The chief sports writer at The Sunday Times, Walsh is in Ireland to celebrate the release of The Program, a new film based on his 2012 book, Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit Of Lance Armstrong.
Few people have greater insight into the murky world of PEDs than Walsh, but he is confident the players we are cheering on in Cardiff on Sunday have gained their incredible mass through lots of weights and the huge intake of calories.
So his son tells him.
"Simon our eldest boy now is a fitness trainer and I say, 'Simon, what about the size of rugby players?' And he says, 'Dad, getting big like those guys is the easiest thing to do.' He said, 'If I wanted to get that big, give me three months and I could put on three stone and it will look like it's all muscle.'
"You do this tough powerlifting and it basically tears your muscle. When they reform there is filler, like scar tissue, and it just makes you bigger. You have to be eating like an idiot, but he says the fact that they are that big is no indication they are doping because it is not difficult," said Walsh, who agrees with Kimmage that the Irish rugby fraternity need to be more willing to discuss the issue of PEDs.
"I looked at the game on Sunday between Ireland and France on Sunday and did I have any reservations that these guys might be on steroids? Absolutely not. I suppose they should be more open to debate because I'm sure there has been doping at lower levels, school kids, I wouldn't be surprised."
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