Things have got to change
Players’ chief says England must address ‘taboo’ subject of central contracts if Eddie Jones’ side is going to compete with the best in the world
English rugby must address the “taboo” subject of central contracts and consider copying the Irish model of tying players to the Rugby Football Union following their dismal Natwest Six Nations campaign, according to players’ chief Damian Hopley.
Eddie Jones’s side finished fifth in the Six Nations, with many of England’s British and Irish Lions players looking exhausted, having played more than double the amount of domestic rugby than Ireland’s Grand-slam champions. Ireland, Wales and Scotland, who finished first, second and third respectively, all use a form of central contracts and Hopley believes England must consider following suit. “In all these discussions around ring-fencing and season structure, you have to throw central contracts in as well,” Hopley, the Rugby Players’ Association chief executive, told The Daily Telegraph.
“It is a huge taboo within English rugby and this is not to decry what their clubs have done because, without their investment, the game would be decimated. The Irish and New Zealand models are working at international level, so is that the answer? It may not be, but you need to have these discussions in a mature and enlightened way, rather than an arms-folded, let’s-have-afight manner.”
Under the English model, the RFU effectively pays Premiership clubs to release players called up for the national team under the terms of the Professional Game Agreement, which runs until 2024. The advantage of central contracts is that it allows unions to control their players’ workload and grant longer rest periods.
While nine of England’s Lions players started their season in the first weekend of September, the majority of Ireland’s contingent enjoyed an extra four weeks off.
Owen Farrell, the England flyhalf, has played 1,084 minutes for Saracens this season, more than double the 435 minutes his Irish counterpart Jonathan Sexton has played for Leinster. Last night, it was confirmed Bath’s Anthony Watson, the Lion who has played the most minutes of club rugby this season, will miss the remainder of the campaign with an Achilles injury.
Jones, who is contemplating resting some of his Lions players for the summer tour to South Africa, has claimed his squad’s fitness levels are higher than ever, according to GPS data. However, ex-england captain Lewis Moody said it is plain
‘You can’t just cherry-pick the best players. They would need to contract all of them’
they look sluggish. “You can have all the stats but sometimes you need to look at the performances subjectively and say they are out on their feet,” Moody said. “A Lions tour is special, but it takes so much out of you. The last time England lost three in a row in the Six Nations was in 2006 coming after the 2005 tour, which isn’t a coincidence.”
A similar observation was made by Steve Hansen, the New Zealand head coach. “They [Ireland] have got central contracting, which allows them to maybe have a bit more control over playing time and playing welfare,” Hansen told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek programme. “Guys are coming out and even though they’ve been on the Lions tour, the same tour the English boys have been on, they’ve had the opportunity to rest up and be mentally and emotionally and physically able to play good Test rugby.”
Both the RFU and Premiership Rugby are adamant the introduction of central contracts would be a non-starter in the short term. “We are only 18 months into the new eight-year Professional Game Agreement, which is a binding partnership between club and country, and is not based on the central-contract model,” an RFU spokeswoman said.
Rob Andrew, the former RFU director of professional rugby who helped broker the deal, also poured cold water on the idea. “I would be staggered if central contracts happen,” he said. “This has been debated for 23 years, but unless there is a sea change in attitude, it isn’t going to come about.”
However, Hopley believes the discussions need to take place straight away. “We are notoriously bad at waiting for problems to arise rather than planning ahead,” he said. “English rugby is not just about the English national team. It is not about taking from one part of the game to give to another, but finding a solution that works for everyone. You have got an inbuilt paradox where you are trying to get players to peak for nine games in the autumn and Six Nations and then peak for the clubs in between. There is a lot of talk about player welfare but, when you speak to the guys on the coalface, maybe that is not always a shared view.”
Ring-fencing the Premiership does remain an active discussion ahead of next month’s meeting of the Professional Game Board.
However, even the principle of central contracts is likely to receive a hostile reception from club owners such as Exeter Chiefs chairman Tony Rowe. “The RFU struggle to find the money to pay for the players they use and abuse once a year anyway,” Rowe said. “You can’t just cherry-pick the best players. If they want to contract our players, they would need to contract all of them so I would like to see where they are going to get money for that from.”