World Rugby will recommend elite players be exposed to a maximum of 15 minutes of contact training per week following a global study concerning injuries that occur outside match conditions.
Research was conducted assessing almost 600 players across 18 elite men’s and women’s competitions, resulting in tweaks to the current system as rugby looks to become "the most progressive sport on player welfare."
The newly recommended guidelines also suggest squads undertake only 40 minutes of controlled contact training and 30 minutes of live set-piece training.
Training regimes differ between teams and competitions, but the research found clubs are currently training 21 minutes per week doing full contact, as well as an average total contact load of 118 minutes per week in training.
While the risk of suffering injury is significantly lower in training compared to a game scenario, the greater time spent in practice means approximately 35 to 40 per cent of all injuries still occur in the former.
The changes aren't mandatory, but that didn't prevent Australia coach Dave Rennie from pondering how the new guidelines would be monitored, suggesting the priority should be on conditioning players for game situations.
“Who’s timing it? I’m sure there’s a lot of work going into coming up with these numbers but I’m not certain how that will pan out,” he told reporters in the build-up to Saturday's Rugby Championship Test against Argentina.
“Thirty-five to 40 percent of injuries happen at training, which means 60 to 65 happen at games. And you have to make sure from a training point of view you’re getting the conditioning and contact load into them so that that they can deal with it on game day and have the technique required.
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“There’s focus around reducing injuries but the most important thing is ensuring our athletes have the skills and knowledge to deal with the contact.”
Different teams and coaches are bound to experience differing results in the seasons to come based on whether they embrace the new guidelines or opt to maintain a more contact-heavy approach.
Rennie's view was in conflict with those of former Scotland flanker John Barclay, who couldn't wait to see players given a lighter physical workload during the week:
The ex-Glasgow, Edinburgh and Scarlets back-rower tweeted: "A bit of common sense. World Rugby Limiting contact training by 2023 to 15 minutes a week. 2 hrs 20mins was the worst “offending” team. Remember that session in 2019….on the schedule as a ‘light session’. Great times. Only question - why wait until 2023?"
One follower suggested 15 minutes per week "doesn't seem like a lot," to which Barclay replied: "Tackle someone for 15 minutes solid. Then see if that changes your opinion."
The timing of training was also highlighted in the wake of World Rugby's research, with coaches encouraged to to make Mondays and Friday sessions free of full contact in an effort to maximise recovery.
Leinster coach Stuart Lancaster, who was on World Rugby’s advisory group for contact training load, said the organisation has "a responsibility to make the game as safe as possible for all our players."
And Leinster are among the elite teams who have agreed to measure the new guidelines' effect using special mouthguards that can monitor results, with Clermont Auvergne, Benetton and Southland also on board.
Former Ireland coach Joe Schmidt, who is set to leave his role as World Rugby's director of rugby and high performance, also promoted the change and said: “Training has increasingly played an important role in injury-prevention as well as performance.
"While there is a lot less full contact training than many people might imagine, it is our hope that having a central set of guidelines will further inform players and coaches of key considerations for any contact that is done during training.
“These new guidelines, developed by leading experts and supported by the game, are by necessity a work in progress and will be monitored and further researched to understand the positive impact on player welfare. We are encouraged by the response that we have received so far."
