Rugby cannot overlook contact issues and stoppages undermining game

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Rugby union’s top guns are preparing for one last mission. That should make this among the sport’s most high profile weekends, with no fewer than four big series deciders taking place on the same day. Not since the 2011 Rugby World Cup quarter-finals weekend in New Zealand has the southern hemisphere simultaneously hosted so many sides with more at stake.

Exciting? Of course. But let’s also not duck the wider reality. Regardless of the series outcomes in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Argentina this is a critical juncture for the sport at all levels. If future generations of fans are to be attracted to the game - and the diehards retained - there are ongoing issues with its premium product that cannot be blithely overlooked.

The first is glaringly obvious to every viewer, casual or otherwise. Even those who love rugby’s gladiatorial element are beginning to wince. Take the Australia v England series. So far, after just two matches - and not counting those absentees who never even made it on to the plane to Australia - nine Wallabies and four English squad members have been ruled out of the series through injury already. That is 13 players in all, equating to approximately one third of the cast.

Imagine a top West End theatre production with over a dozen ‘stand-in’ notes inserted into the programme. The director would be in tears, the audience aghast. It is starting to make Rollerball sound like badminton. And all amid concerted efforts to try and make the sport significantly safer for its participants. Contact