WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Scotland team doctor James Robson says the format of the Rugby World Cup may have to be re-examined to avoid short turnarounds between matches which have been criticized by some of the tournament's smaller nations.
Robson said Friday he did not believe matches scheduled as few as four days apart were dangerous but said they were likely to result in below-par performances.
Players and officials from Samoa, Tonga and Canada and Scotland coach Andy Robinson have questioned whether rugby's Tier Two nations should get longer gaps between World Cup matches than their stronger rivals.
"I think to turnaround in international test rugby now, within four days is asking a great deal of the players that we are trying to care for," Robson said.
"So I think from a player welfare point of view, while absolutely cognizant of the commercial needs of world rugby .... . we do have to see if there's some other format for the future where we can have people playing with adequate turnaround time, and therefore performing at their best," Robson said.
Robson said he will bring up the matter at an upcoming International Rugby Board medical conference in London.
"I'm sure we'll have lots to talk about, and one of those things will be how long does it take to actually recover from playing international test match rugby nowadays before you are really fit enough to get back on the pitch and play the next game," he said.
Robson said he had been observing test rugby for 20 years and believed it took at least four days after a major match for players to be able to train "adequately and fully."
"And that's train adequately and fully, not play another game, so I believe it takes at least four days to recover from the rigors of an international test match. I don't think it's dangerous but I think it results in below-par performance."
Robinson has been one of the only coaches of a Tier One team to openly criticize the short turnarounds inflicted on the World Cup's smaller teams.
"I have always banged the drum for the Tier-Two nations because for the game of rugby to truly go global we need 20 teams to be competing to win the World Cup, as you have in soccer," Robinson said after his team's win over Georgia.
"I saw Mike Miller (the IRB chief executive) on our flight today and I said that a four-day turnaround for squads that do not have real depth has to be improved. It is something that should not be allowed to happen if possible. It is better than it was in 2007 and I hope it will be so again in 2015. Teams should have a turnaround of at least five days.
Robinson said Scotland doesn't face the same issues as the smaller teams.
"It was fine for us to play two games in four days because we had the depth of squad, but for the likes of Namibia, facing Fiji and Samoa in four days, it puts them under huge pressure," he said.
Robson said he saw no existing link between short turnarounds and injuries, although he would be eager to study data from the current tournament.
"We see it in most of the teams we play that people are getting better, as in the old adage, we have stronger, fitter, faster people so the collisions are bigger," he said.
"All I can say is people are battered and bruised, they are quite sore and they're quite stiff. It's a hard ask them to do that and to perform at their best and that's really where we want the world state of rugby to be at."
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