Asked for comment at France's training center ahead of the Six Nations match against Wales, Saint-Andre, a former France captain and winger with 69 caps in the 1990s, said he used to drink two espressos before entering the pitch.
"Our doping was passion, the desire to play, to make passes, and to fight," Saint-Andre said.
In the book titled "Rugby A Charges" (Charged Up Rugby), Mombet suggested that France was doped up when it beat New Zealand 16-3 in 1986, in an infamous test that became known as the Battle of Nantes.
"The (All) Blacks dominated us the week before in Toulouse, and we crushed them," Mombet said. "The Blacks realised that their opponents were unrecognizable from the previous week because they were loaded. They took the matter toward the (International Rugby) Board, which informed the (French) ministry of sports."
Philippe Sella, another former France captain with 111 caps from 1982-95, said he might file for libel after Mombet suggested that he and other stars including Serge Blanco and Pierre Berbizier would take amphetamines only "on very rare occasions."
Saint-Andre added that regular anti-doping controls in France since rugby turned professional in 1995, guarantee better monitoring of players.
The revelations have not surprised All Black legend Wayne Shelford who was badly injured during that defeat.
Shelford was concussed, lost several teeth and needed his scrotum stitched as France played with a distorted aggression to claim a 16-3 victory over the All Blacks.
"It's nice to know you are right but it is one of those things," Shelford said. "You can't prove it and you just shut up and let things go and then nearly 30 years later they say something. They played totally differently.
"How can a whole team turn around like that in a week. We had the grunt on them but they seemed to keep coming and coming. They played with a whole lot more ferocity than they had before.
"I've never talked to any of their guys about it but I have talked to a whole lot of others and they believe they were on drugs as well," he said.
Shelford has been to France a number of times since the infamous 1986 match and said he had spoken to a number of players and people associated with the game through the '70s and '80s. The rumours were always strong but the laws were different then.
"Some of the older ones knew they were taking stuff but it is a case of proving that isn't it," he said. "I've run into guys [from the '86 French side] at reunions but never asked about it because everyone would deny it."
