In last weekend’s Sunday Times, Stephen Jones highlighted the injury ‘crisis’ sweeping the professional game. What he failed to offer was constructive suggestion on how the problem might be addressed, beyond the obvious one that players play fewer games.
Let’s start with that one: there will not be less rugby because the demand to see games is high and increasing, and because in England and France the owners need to generate revenue, trying to reduce the amount they’re pouring into their clubs. Similarly, the Unions won’t cut back on international matches, because they generate the cash to keep grassroots going.
The answer is simple: squad sizes need to be bigger, so players can be rested more often. It was good to hear Austin Healey picking up on it on Rugby Tonight and over the coming months hopefully others will follow.
A table published in The Times showed how many minutes 2017 B&I Lions players have played this season, and surprise, surprise, the top ten names in the list were all English. The Celts prioritise international rugby and the Champions Cup ahead of their league, so they rest their players more. Because of the relegation threat, and the extreme competitiveness of the Premiership, clubs inevitably flog their assets rather more than is ideal.
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