Revealed: Itoje among stars at risk of welfare breach as rugby urged to act

England forward has played 1,881 minutes with the limit being 2,400 as calls come to protect rugby’s ‘prized possessions’

Maro Itoje and Finn Russell are on course to break crucial player welfare limits, Telegraph Sport can reveal, as rugby’s authorities stand accused of risking the health of the Premiership’s “prized possessions”.
Under an agreement between the Rugby Football Union, Premiership Rugby and the Rugby Players’ Association, elite players are limited to 35 total games or the equivalent of playing in 30 full games per season (2,400 minutes).
Fly-half Russell has played 25 times for Scotland and Bath this season while second row Itoje has played 24 times for England and Saracens. Both players are among the Six Nations and Premiership’s most recognisable stars and played in every single minute of this year’s tournament. Itoje’s total of 1,881 minutes is the equivalent of 23.5 full games.
Assuming Itoje is involved in England’s three Tests against Japan and New Zealand this summer – on Saturday Steve Borthwick indicated he wants to take his strongest team – then he would only be allowed to play in another three and a half games for Saracens this season before reaching the upper limit.
Similarly, Russell’s total playing minutes of 1,923 is a little over 24 games. Unlike Itoje, the Scotland co-captain is not afforded mandatory rest periods granted to England internationals and has so far started 14 games for Bath, although he could possibly be rested for Scotland’s summer tour to North and South America. Bath and Saracens have reached the Champions Cup last 16 and are both occupying the Premiership play-off places. Should they reach the final of both competitions they would face another 14 club matches this season.
Other England players with high work loads include second row Ollie Chessum (24 games), scrum-half Alex Mitchell and hooker Jamie George (21 games), as well as wing Elliot Daly and Ben Earl (20 games) despite the latter missing eight weeks of the season with a knee injury.
At this point it seems inevitable that both Itoje and Russell will breach the limit, which Christian Day, the general secretary of the RPA, argues is endangering the Premiership’s best assets. “At the end of the day, it does not benefit anyone, least of all the player, to be playing beyond the limits because they are set at the point where their risk of injury increases,” Day told Telegraph Sport. “These are the league’s prized possessions and you are putting them at risk.
“It does not do anyone any favours that these players are being put at a higher risk of injury. They are the most prized possessions in the English game. Their management is vitally important and it is always a tug of war between club and country but we want to see these players playing at the top of their game year after year. That’s what everyone wants.”
The 30-game limit was brought in six years ago and analysis carried out by the University of Bath that was published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport in 2022 established that playing more than 30 games leads to a “significantly higher injury burden in the following season.”
Telegraph Sport understands that as part of the new Professional Game Partnership, the 35 game involvements will be reduced to 30 from next season. In 2022, full back Freddie Steward went over the limit by playing in the England’s Test series decider against Australia after the Rugby Football Union applied for special dispensation from the Professional Player Management Group. An RFU spokesperson said: “The RFU will continue to work closely with Premiership Rugby DORs and players to ensure game limits are appropriately managed.”
Day says that regulation may be required if the guideline is habitually breached, but the proposed enhanced Elite Player Squad contracts should provide a mechanism to provide better management of England’s leading players as Borthwick hinted at on Saturday.
“We all want the best players playing to the best of their abilities so we have the best Premiership product and an England team that is ready,” Borthwick said. “Talking about the enhanced EPS, it’s aiming to be much more joined up, to allow both clubs and the national team to benefit without trading off.”
It is of a particular concern that Itoje is on course to break the limit because as a loose forward he is exposed to far more contacts during a game than a back. Using data from Opta Sports, Itoje’s combined actions of tackles, carries and rucks hit was 1,425. Daly by contrast only made 733 combined actions.
“As the new limits come in which are guided by sport science and factual research I think more and more players will need managing more closely so we do not go beyond those limits,” Day said. “It is not in anyone’s benefit that these players play in so many matches and so many minutes. Different positions also have different playing loads. If you look at the instrumented mouthguards they are becoming very instructive in that regard. A back row, for example, will go through a higher load of playing than a winger. That always made sense but now we are starting to get data to back that up.”