Jonathan Davies: Many of these injuries are self-inflicted

Why is it there are fewer serious injuries in rugby league? No one would suggest it is a softer game

Rugby union is getting alarmed at the rising number of injuries afflicting the top echelons of the game, but I doubt if that will stop those who run the game continuing to drive players beyond the limit.

Rugby union is getting alarmed at the rising number of injuries afflicting the top echelons of the game, but I doubt if that will stop those who run the game continuing to drive players beyond the limit.

Undoubtedly, they play too many games, but the underlying problem is that they are flogged too hard in training. In my experience, the only match a rugby player plays totally injury-free is his first one ever. From then on you collect knocks and niggles on a regular basis. The trick is to learn to live with them.

But there are some injuries you can't live with, and the number is getting very serious - a recent survey revealed that more than 25 per cent of Premiership squads were either on or just coming off the injured list.

In some ways, the casualty rate is unavoidable. You are bound to get more injuries these days because the players are bigger and stronger. Extra weight-training, better nutrition - centres and wings are as big as forwards used to be.

And matches are played with an intensity we have never witnessed before. You just have to compare the present level of week-to-week competition in club rugby to what it was even five years ago, especially in England, to realise the increased strains on the modern player.

There is no respite and that, after all, is what professionalism is all about. Dedicating your life to a fast and furious body-contact sport carries a big risk factor, but you can't go on demanding quality and quantity from players.

The easy way to lighten their load is to cut down the number of matches, but rugby is structured on a packed domestic and international scene and it is not easy to tamper with it without threatening the game's finances. This is not a problem confined to rugby. Most British sports are overplayed, especially during our rubbish winters, but the union boys are suffering most.

I am sure that, long-term, a solution can be found to reshape the season so that players need not endure so much wear and tear, but meanwhile I am convinced that a more immediate remedy lies in our training regimes.

Increasingly, since professionalism arrived, club squads have been forced to step up their practice sessions to commando levels and, with the arrival of so many specialist coaches, players have never had so many taskmasters.

So much activity during the week is bound to have an effect on the strongest physique. The bone structure can only take so much, and with players carrying so much extra body-weight it it is not surprising that joints, sinews and groins show the strain.

They are heading for an injury even before they play a match. I would like to see the statistics on where the majority of injuries have their source. I bet that the training paddock or the gym would figure high on the list.

Why is it that there are fewer serious injuries in rugby league? Surely no one would suggest that league is a softer game than union. The number of one-to-one collisions is greater and yet they don't seem to suffer so much damage. As a former league player I can vouch for the fact that they have a far more enlightened approach to training.

Unlike union, they keep away from contact during training. They work hard and go through their drill work and defensive organisation but they avoid contact. When they practise attacking moves the defenders use tackle pads.

Because union contains more technical stuff like line-outs, scrums, rucks and mauls you have to have more contact, but they overdo it to a dangerous extent. I can remember returning from league to union and being astounded by the contact and pressure I faced in training.

All I know is that in league I felt fresh and raring to go when the match day came but in union I felt lethargic because of all I had gone through in training. In fact, when I retired it was not because I couldn't face the rigours of match play - it was the day-to-day strain of training I couldn't face.

I am sure that many players come to the same conclusion as they get into their mid-30s, especially if they are still playing at international level, because trying to cope with two fitness regimes is impossible.

Enlightened coaches like Newcastle's Steve Black preach the value of rest to combat the effects of mental and physical fatigue. Flogging willing horses is never a good idea, and our injury lists are proving it.