Player welfare must be more than a slogan in packed rugby year ahead

The fixtures for the Premiership’s restart give better clarity to the shape of the rugby calendar for the foreseeable future. We may not know who England will be playing in the autumn yet - and there is always the threat of a Covid-19 spike - but a second wave notwithstanding, the next year will bring a glut of top-level rugby.

Restarting in mid-August will mean almost exactly 12 months of non-stop rugby. Great for fans, clubs and unions who have been so badly hit financially. Good for the sponsors, all kinds of stakeholders and for the players, who I know are desperate to get back to doing what they are good at.

Twelve continuous months is, however, an almighty slog. It’s a challenge a lot of players will be relishing - that is their nature - but when we hear rugby administrators talk about compromise, about how less can be more, the outlook hardly backs that up. Player welfare is an often repeated phrase but it has to mean something.

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This is in no way pointing the finger at the clubs, because I know how diligent and cautious they have been, but I was chatting to a Premiership player just the other day about the increase in achilles-tendon injuries. He is a big NFL fan and in 2011 there was a spate of achilles problems in American football during a 20-week shutdown.

At this player’s club they have had as many during the gradual return to playing as they usually would across a season. It shows clubs are already having to manage injuries as a consequence of not playing for four months.

A lot of people will probably say four months off is plenty to refresh and get ready for what lies ahead but you cannot bank energy. Just because there has been a long layoff does not mean players are going to be fresh come mid-March next year

With the Premiership final set for 24 October and the new season set to start less than a month after that, there may be the chance to have a week’s downtime but next season is going to be relentless. And international players won’t get that downtime owing to the bumper autumn expected for England. At the end of it we will be expecting the best players in Britain and Ireland to peak against the world champions, South Africa, on the Lions tour.

For the clubs, understanding is going to be key. The directors of rugby, the strength and conditioning coaches and all the back-room staff have huge amounts of data they can monitor but managing squads through this period is not going to be straightforward. There will need to be understanding from supporters, too. They are not going to see players at the top of their game all the time.

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While next season is going to be a gruelling slog, matches will soon come thick and fast to complete the current campaign. Midweek games will be uncharted territory but pose more of a problem for some clubs. If you are a club like Leicester, you are not going to get into the top six and your Premiership status is already secured, so it may be a bit easier. You can start making plans for the following season, give some youngsters the opportunity to get used to the intensity of the top flight and take a long-term view. For a club trying to cling on to a top-four spot or fighting to climb into the top six, the pressure on every game and on every point means there will be a reluctance to rotate.

Those clubs able to rotate, to give young players a chance, could also be helping the national side. Even before the pandemic, with Saracens relegated, I felt we would see more English youngsters exposed without that threat hanging over clubs. You only have to look at the England squad to see there are some positions where Eddie Jones needs to unearth new talent as he plots a path towards the 2023 World Cup.

England are set for a developmental tour next summer when many senior players will be with the Lions, so here is the chance for Jones - and Conor O’Shea alongside him at the Rugby Football Union - to cast their eyes over a few players who can emerge for that tour and beyond.

Saracens’ relegation can also be of further benefit to England because of the relative breather players such as Maro Itoje, Owen Farrell and Jamie George will get in the Championship. There is never a good time to be relegated but perhaps this is the least-worst scenario for them. Central contracts regularly get talked about, even more so since the start of the pandemic, and next season we may just get a glimpse of what they could look like. They are still Saracens players being paid by the club but I would not be surprised if Jones and his coaches have greater access to those players across the season.

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That in turn could help Warren Gatland and I am keeping an eye on Manu Tuilagi, who comes into contention for the Lions tour. Taking on South Africa at the end of this 12-month period will be a big ask but most important will be mindset.

There are a million and one reasons why the tour is going to be difficult. You’re trying to unite Britain and Ireland in a short period to take on the world champions. It would be much better for the Lions if it wasn’t at the end of such a tough season, or if the Premiership final was brought forward by a week or two. It’s going to be an enormous challenge but not one that can be shied away from.