Rest periods agreed to preserve fitness of international elite

The International Rugby Board conference on player welfare concluded last night with agreement that the introduction of set periods of prolonged rest is crucial to the future of the game.

The sport's world governing body received a recommendation from its medical committee in April that action needed to be taken in order to preserve the future of the international game and, after consultation with the Players' Associations, organised last night's meeting here.

New Zealand's John Mitchell, who was one of the international coaches to attend the meeting, had gone on record saying: "These guys need three months away from the contest so they can establish a better fitness foundation, so they can be prepared and can have some of the operations many need."

The difficulty arises with the clashing of seasons. Mitchell would like his players to enjoy three months' rest between November and January, switching their autumn internationals to a window in June and July. But with the northern hemisphere season running from September to May, the summer months are their only chance for rest and recuperation.

Initial agreements were reached that a player's off-season must be at least four weeks of "continuous holiday, leave or active rest" per year, with the subsequent pre-season period eight to 10 weeks in duration. The recommendation added that, once the season begins, "normally there should be no more than one game per week".

The chief conclusion to emerge from the conference was that the demands on players, particularly the élite, must be carefully managed.

The conference agreed on the importance of "first-class global data collection, collation and monitoring" and made four recommendations to be considered by the Medical Advisory Committee before being put, in turn to the IRB Council in November. The recommendations added that élite players must have their welfare "proactively managed". This means creating a balance between training, games and travel and adjusting their period of "active rest" to ensure they remain at peak condition.

Dr Sid Millar, chairman of the IRB Technical Committee, was delighted with the conclusions reached at a conference. "Nothing is more important to the future of the professional game than the health, welfare and security of our players," he said. "Rugby has become an increasingly demanding sport, and not just in physical terms. Reconciliation of the needs of the players with the needs of the game is a matter of the greatest importance."