THE LAST WORD

THE EXPANSION of the Test calendar continues to rage on, seemingly unchecked. There was confirmation this week that England and Wales will lock horns in a full international at Twickenham on May 29 — replacing the hosts’ traditional end-of-season encounter with the Barbarians. That established fixture was largely used as a development tool and it is highly likely that Eddie Jones and Warren Gatland will have to treat their sides’ second clash next year in much the same vein. There is no way that leading players — shattered at the end of a gruelling domestic season after the World Cup — can be expected to knock lumps out of each other just before flying off to take on the might of Australia and New Zealand respectively. Those tours will loom as an onerous task for men who, by then, will have been on active duty for 12 months. Not so long ago, the top European nations would play 10 Tests a year, but England and Wales will both contest 13 in 2016. A line has to be drawn. The workload is too intense. Enough is enough.