RugbyU: Players’ union slams plan to extend English season

England’s Rugby Players’ Association hit out yesterday at a “detrimental” plan to extend the top-flight Premiership season to 10 months, saying it was not “viable” and would jeopardize the welfare of players. There have long been concerns about the toll an increasingly physical and fast-paced professional game is taking on players, with worries about concussion-related injuries a particular issue.

At the same time there has been an attempt to bring greater harmony between club and international fixtures worldwide, with rugby union traditionally a winter sport in both the northern and southern hemispheres. March saw World Rugby announce plans for a new global calendar from 2020, which raised the possibility that European-based players could be left with an 11-month season once overseas Test tours were taken into account.

Premiership Rugby responded by saying the 2019/20 domestic season would be extended to provide more club rugby after the Six Nations concludes in March. The season will still start at the beginning of September with the Premiership final played at the end of June, rather than the end of May as happens now. Premiership Rugby chief executive Mark McCafferty, said the new set-up would “significantly reduce or eliminate overlaps between the international and club game”, adding this was good news for club fans as their teams would not be missing “important players for significant chunks of the season”. McCafferty, who insisted player welfare was a “priority”, stressed the 32-game season limit would remain in place.

But the unimpressed RPA said yesterday in a strongly-worded statement that “extending an already arduous season from nine months to ten has serious implications for players, given the potential increase to the game, training and psychological loads they face”. The RPA said reducing the off season from three months to two would have a “seriously detrimental effect on player welfare unless substantial guaranteed safeguards are introduced”, adding that Test stars would be particularly badly hit by the proposed changes. “Perhaps most worryingly is the incredible strain these proposals would place on international players. “If the Premiership season retains its current start date, the addition of a July tour schedule will lead to an 11-month season for these players. —AFP