World Rugby has introduced new welfare guidelines that will limit the number of professional games per season to 30 with players permitted to play no more than six matches in a row.
The study that has led to the introduction of the new protocols found that that concussion rates in the professional game have not fallen due to increased punishments for head contact, according to the International Rugby Players Association.
"Player behaviour has changed – players are getting lower in the tackle but you are finding ball-carriers are getting lower because of that," former New Zealand player Conrad Smith, head of IRPA, told the Telegraph.
"The game ends up getting played a lot lower to the ground because you have bent-over tacklers and bent-over carriers.
"You can see where that ends up. It is all great work but at the end of the day the most material impact we are going to have is controlling the amount of games that players play.
"I think at the community level, the work to drop the tackle height and harsher sanctions around foul play, it is all worthy work but at the professional end we do not have an issue with foul play.
"If you look at the incidents of foul play, it is very, very rare that players are receiving concussion and head acceleration events from foul play.
"They are receiving them from playing rugby.
"How do we manage that? It is not rocket science – you manage how many games you play, how much contact training you do."
The guidelines have been recommended to World Rugby by a project group of leading experts representing players, unions, regions and competitions around the globe.
Among the group were Smith, Connacht coach Stuart Lancaster, former Munster coach Johan van Graan, and former Ireland and British and Irish Lions team doctor Éanna Falvey.
"The guidelines are supported by scientific evidence or in the absence of existing studies, expert opinion," said the sport's governing body.
"[They] take a precautionary approach to player load in all circumstances in line with existing World Rugby policies and guidelines on player welfare."
The new guidelines state that players should:
- Play no more than 30 games in a single season or six consecutive match weeks
- Have a dedicated five-week off season break
- Be entitled to minimum rest periods should they be selected for international fixtures of at least one week.
- Across a year, have 12 weeks of non-contact time
- Communicate thoroughly between club and country
The agreement of these new guidelines was a condition of approval for the new Nations Championship, which can now begin in the summer of 2026.
Chairman of World Rugby Dr Brett Robinson said: "These guidelines are the result of much intense negotiation over many years, I'd like to congratulate all involved on achieving this agreement.
"As with all World Rugby policies, these guidelines are informed by the latest science and expert opinion.
"Our hope, over time, is that unions and competitions reach local agreements to best serve the individual circumstances of players. In the meantime, these guidelines provide a solid backstop.
"As we grow our sport, players can be sure that they are being well supported by their clubs, unions and at the very top of the game by World Rugby."
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
