World Rugby's Gareth Davies says reducing substitutions could lower the game's injury rate. photo / Getty
World Rugby's Gareth Davies says reducing substitutions could lower the game's injury rate. photo / Getty
Welsh rugby boss Gareth Davies believes making players see out the full 80 minutes and limiting substitutions could reduce rugby's increasing injury rate.
Northern Rugby has been rocked by ongoing injury issues and following an increased focus on head injuries, World Rugby has seen rules tightened.
Next March World Rugby will be considering proposals to reduce injuries on the field, including one to limit the number of substitutions.
The proposal aims to prevent teams from making mass replacements in the final 20 minutes of the game - the point at which most players tire.
Davies, the former Wales and Lion's fly-half, is on the World Rugby council and believes that such a change would see a reduction in the size of players and help tackle the ongoing crisis.
"Rugby used to be a game for all shapes and sizes and we are moving away from that."
"Players are bigger than their bodies are designed for them to be and a lot of the injuries are because of that, not just because of the physical demands of the game," Davies told The Guardian.
"If players have to run for 80 minutes, they will have to become lighter and get closer to their natural body weight and there is a chance of opening up the game. It is worth looking at because many are now conditioned to play for only 50 minutes."
Davies said as a fly-half his job "was to outfox the wing forward but after 50-odd minutes a whole new team would come on".
"It will certainly not get any better. When I played, no one tore biceps of hamstrings off the bone. No one had stinger injuries and what is happening is a player's muscular set-up is not natural while your ligaments and bone structure remain the same. It is the load that causes the problems."
"I am not sure what law changes can achieve. There is an experimental one being conducted now in the tackle but the only way I can see it is guys having to play for the full 80 minutes. That would force them to shed a few stone: players are physical specimens now and if it carries on they will get even bigger and stronger."
Earlier this week Irish great Brian O'Driscoll accused rugby of "going soft" after World Rugby increased its focus on policing tackles.
