Ludicrous talk of extending season has to stop, says Hamilton
Former Scotland international and double Premiership champion and European Cup winner with Saracens, Jim Hamilton, has labelled the suggestion of an extended season “ludicrous” and called for the idea to be taken off the table.
Speaking on The Rugby Pod, the former lock, who retired in the summer after playing 27 games in the English top flight and the top tier of European competition in his final season, said he was hanging on at the end of his career and player welfare should be the number one priority.
“I’d love to have a bit of banter about this but I can’t. I think it’s ludicrous. I don’t know how you can extend the season any more,” he said.
“I’ve only been retired a few months and I was hanging on at the end of my career and to add more games to the season would be absolutely ridiculous.
“We talk about player welfare but this is where it needs to stand up and the suggestion should be kiboshed. There should be no chance whatsoever that the season can be extended.”
Hamilton’s former Saracens teammate Jamie George, who was a guest on the Rugby Pod this week, made 39 appearances last season if you include the summer tour, autumn tests, Six Nations and British & Irish Lions tour as well as all domestic and European matches.
His workload is not out of the ordinary by any means and those not playing international rugby can be affected just as much, if not more. Joe Simpson played all 24 games for Wasps in the Premiership last season and another six in the Champions Cup, for example, while Marcel van der Merwe played 32 games for Toulon in all.
“I think we play double the amount of games that we should for the optimum level of a rugby player and to protect their safety,” said Hamilton.
“A lot of the England guys are now managed and get time off during the season but if you are a week in, week out kind of guy, you are getting flogged. Where is the player management?
“I’m not surprised that Billy Vunipola and others have spoken out. They cannot be expected to carry on like this for the sake of money and television.”
Hamilton was in Singapore last week filming a new series for RugbyPass and caught up with former Gloucester and England number eight James Forrester, who was forced to retire back in 2008 at the age of just 27.
“I’ve been talking to people about what their bodies are like two, three, four or five years after they’ve finished playing rugby and it’s actually quite ridiculous in terms of the state they’re in. James Forrester says he’s going to need to have his knee completely redone in the next few years and he can barely walk some mornings. He retired at 27-years-old and his knee is in that state,” he said.
“We have got a rugby players’ union, the RPA (Rugby Players’ Association), and this is where they make their money and where they hold their value for the players because you cannot expect players to play any more games.
“I’ll quite happily stand up to whoever is talking about this and to the suits who are drinking a pint of Guinness and talking about how it was back in the day.
“It’s just different now and I hope that the coaches and influencers, like Mark McCall, Damian Hopley at the RPA, Eddie Jones and others, stand up and say that it isn’t good enough.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
65 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
9 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
9 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
9 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
9 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
9 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to comments