‘This is not spin. Guys tell us they are at breaking point’

Key figures from across the game say in-game contact has shot up and a compromise is needed

Damian Hopley Chief executive of the Rugby Players’ Association

“We have been out visiting a number of Premiership clubs over the past couple of months and there is a general sense, anecdotally, that there are a lot of people down at the moment and the players are dropping like flies.

“Typically, we would be having this conversation in years gone by about international players post a Lions tour. But now we are talking about a broader church.

“Dylan Hartley was spot on recently when he said it was not about him and the international players but about the regular first-team players and the demands being made across the season. Those in the elite player squad have got natural breaks written into the season and possibly we need to look at limits to the number of games, too, for the non-internationals.

“The club owners have done a fantastic job for English rugby but I feel we are now moving into a different evolution of the game. All the player comments that have come out are from the coalface. They are not planted, or spin or PR. These are guys who are saying they are at breaking point. We are in a difficult predicament and it is imperative that we use all the data and empirical evidence around where we are as a sport to construct where we go from here.

“We need to create the right forum and work with all the stakeholders to find the solution and that involves getting the length of the off-season right and giving the players sufficient physical and, more importantly, mental recovery time.”

Dai Young Wasps director of rugby

“Our injury tally is certainly as bad

as I’ve known it here, we don’t normally have any more than about five or six missing. Going into last weekend, we had 14 players unavailable. We’ve lost another two but some could be back as well – so we’re looking at about 15 missing this weekend.

“We’ve spent a bit of time looking at how the game has changed.

“This season, from our point of view, there’s at least 50 more contacts per game – in every game we play – than there has been previously. The reasons for that are teams are kicking a lot less, teams are trying to keep the ball more.

“If they keep the ball more, there are obviously more contacts, that’s the biggest thing that has jumped out from the stats we’ve looked at.

“The changes to the ruck law mean it’s very difficult to get turnovers.

“You’ve got to be really accurate to get a turnover. That area has made it easier for the attacking team to keep the ball, harder for the defensive team to get a turnover.”

John Kingston Harlequins’ director of rugby

“There are clubs that are not suffering as much as others but it is inevitable and bound to happen across the season at certain points – even though we have put certain preventions in place. Those look a bit laughable if you look at where we are [now].

“In the summer we talked about concussions and got some thoughts about that, strengthening certain parts of people’s bodies to assist in that regard. The neck, for example, is a big part of that. Then you look at the injury to Demetri [Catrakilis] for example [throat bone fracture] … what a freak. An absolute freak.

“The man who can unlock [how to reduce injuries] is going to be very rich, because everyone is asking the same question about how to injury-prevent things. There’s a lot of very well intended science and analysis going into it and we’ll obviously try to meaningfully look at the whole thing, definitely.”

Darren Edwards First-team coach, Bath Rugby

“I just think we’re playing in a tough sport. Players are well conditioned and teams are really going at each other – you’ve seen how competitive the Premiership has been at the start of this season. It’s shocked everyone.

“Unfortunately, in a physical contact sport, there are injuries. Our view is that they are part of the game. We’re always working with them but constantly looking forward and preparing for the next game.

“The classic thing is that injuries come in certain positions. That’s probably due to the fact that you have so many numbers in one position, a couple of individuals get injured and then the others are overworked. It’s a knock-on effect. We’ve had a few challenges in that regard, but it’s nothing new, really.

“Ball-in-play time is going up, players are fitter. I’m not sure where it’ll go from here. It’s early days in the season, so all we can do is wait and see how it develops.”