1
RPA fears Premiership players getting flogged
By Online Editors
Players union chief Damian Hopley has grave fears about the Gallagher Premiership’s grand ambition to finish out the remainder of this season and still start the 2020/21 campaign as scheduled on September 12.
The English season’s showpiece final is still scheduled to take place at Twickenham on June 20. However, with nine regular-season rounds off matches still to be played along with the semi-finals, there are fears that midweek matches will be played despite regulations guaranteeing a minimum five-day turnaround between games.
If there are no midweek matches, the likelihood is that the 2019/20 season will carry on much later into the summer and reduce the agreed twelve-week break that is supposed to exist between seasons.
Either way, it is set to generate anxiety about player welfare and Rugby Players’ Association boss Hopley is concerned about the potential damage this might do.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Hopley said: “While we understand we are in some pretty catastrophic circumstances, we fully expect to be consulted and involved in what a hybrid season structure may look like.
“It needs to be a joined-up collaboration so we are doing the right thing. If you put player welfare first then the commercial will flow from that, not the other way around. We have battled very hard in the new season structure to secure a twelve-week period for absolute rest, active rest and then preparation for the season.
“This has to be about working in collaboration because the world is changing so quickly. But that is not the same as giving up on the principles around player welfare that we have worked so hard to establish.
“This is not about the players rolling over, this is about the players taking a really responsible approach not only to the clubs’ futures but to their own futures.
“Every player we have spoken to recognises there is a bigger picture at play here. We all understand and accept the principle of what they are asking, we are just trying to get a lot more certainty about what the practice looks like.
“We want 13 Premiership clubs (including Newcastle) which are vibrant and financially sustainable rather than eight. There is a necessity of all employees accepting some responsibility.
“Our take is that there is enough common sense around the game to ensure that no unnecessary demands will be made of players, particularly when we have worked so hard to create a strong welfare culture.
“If there is any hint that player welfare is being reduced to a token gesture then everyone will be reminded of the edicts that player welfare is the real No1 priority.”
WATCH: Billy Vunipola chats to Jim Hamilton in the latest episode of The Lockdown, the new RugbyPass series
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Jake White: Ireland, Australia and Wales have the same problem
3
David Campese names his Springbok world player of the year winner
4
Let's be real about these All Blacks
5
Latest Comments
Stephen Larkham, Mick Byrne, Scott Wisental, Ben Mowen, Les Kiss, Jim McKay, Rod Kafer.
There are plenty of great Australian coaches who could do a better job than Schmidt.
Go to commentsThis piece is nothing more than the result of revisionist fancy of Northern Hemisphere rugby fans. Seeing what they want to see, helped but some surprisingly good results and a desire to get excited about doing something well.
I went back through the 6N highlights and sure enough in every English win I remembered seeing these exact holes on the inside, that are supposedly the fallout out of a Felix Jones system breaking down in the hands of some replacement. Every time the commentators mentioned England being targeted up the seam/around the ruck or whatever. Each game had a try scored on the inside of the blitz, no doubt it was a theme throughout all of their games. Will Jordan specifically says that Holland had design that move to target space he saw during their home series win.
Well I'm here to tell you they were the same holes in a Felix Jones system being built as well. This woe is now sentiment has got to stop. The game is on a high, these games have been fantastic! It is Englands attack that has seen their stocks increase this year, and no doubt that is what SB told him was the teams priority. Or it's simply science, with Englands elite players having worked towards a new player welfare and management system, as part of new partnership with the ERU, that's dictating what the players can and can't put their bodies through.
The only bit of truth in this article is that Felix is not there to work on fixing his defence. England threw away another good chance of winning in the weekend when they froze all enterprise under pressure when no longer playing attacking footy for the second half. That mindset helped (or not helped if you like) of course by all this knee jerk, red brained criticism.
Go to comments