THE ADMINISTRATORS of rugby consistently forget that without the players, there is no game. There isn’t an infinite amount of players and so seeing them as assets and not pieces of meat is important. We need the top players playing for longer, in top competitions against each other. That means we all get a better product and, in turn, it attracts more boys and girls to the sport.
There have been some strides forward with player welfare, with changing approaches to brain injury protocols and some nations mandating time away from rugby after heavy periods. But a more streamlined view of rugby, across the world and on all issues like a global season, would make a better product.
And we need to look at what we are putting out there. Because are parents as willing to let their children play as they used to? I’m not 100% certain.
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Denne historien er fra September 2023-utgaven av Rugby World.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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"I stress-test my coaches' ideas but ultimately you have to let the bakers bake"
Northampton Saints' director of rugby explains how to be an effective coach
REMEMBER WHEN...WE HAD A HOTLINE ON RUGBY GOING PRO
RW readers could ring in to have their say on the amateur-pro debate
RUGBY RANT
Editor Joe Robinson on why rugby needs to take kit launches more seriously
WHAT IT'S LIKE TO...BE A SEVENS REFEREE SELECTOR
Irish official David Keane lifts the lid on his role behind the scenes
“You can still be fully professional and enjoy yourself"
The Wales great who also represented the Lions and Scarlets with distinction
CLEVEDON RFC
Giving grass-roots rugby the love that it deserves...
Downtime with... Jacob Umaga - "Best player in my family? I have to say Uncle Tana"
The Benetton fly-half on Italy, basketball and talented kinsmen
SHANE MCDONALD
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
100* Not Out
RW charts a century of Samoa's flagship national team, including its dramatic rebirth in the late 1980s
Chunk
More than a decade since his retirement, we caught up with Allan Jacobsen, the larger-than-life former Scotland prop