Eddie Jones: Expansion drive would wear out the top players

Calling the shots

Last weekend's climactic Six Nations meeting between Wales and Ireland proved, as if any further proof were needed, that rugby union at the top level is a desperately hard, phenomenally attritional game.

It never was the softest of options for those wanting to play team sport to the highest possible standard – every generation has faced extreme physical challenges and wondered if things could conceivably get any tougher – but now, almost 15 years into the professional era, the physical shock and aftershock is way beyond anything experienced in the amateur era.

So the question has to be asked: why are the people who run rugby in England even considering launching a new "third" competition next season? The EDF Energy Cup, or Anglo-Welsh Cup – call it what you will – ends in its present form in the middle of April, and while I'm sure the final at Twickenham will draw an excellent crowd, it should be allowed to die a natural death, never to return.

I really can't see much value in a third tournament, unless it is set up specifically for young players – under-25s, for instance – and played on a Monday night. There is no need for a senior competition wedged into the gaps left by the Guinness Premiership and the Heineken Cup. Believe me, there is only so much rugby a front-line player can take, and anything between 33 and 40 games a season is beyond his limit. In almost every other rugby-playing corner of the world, the leading players are restricted to between 25 and 28 matches in the calendar year.

For the same reason, I wouldn't contemplate agreeing to any expansion of the Premiership. The club chairmen and chief executives are pushing for another half-dozen games on top of the current 22 as a means of generating more cash. It's an understandable urge in light of current economic circumstances, but from the sporting perspective, a lopsided tournament in which some teams play each other three times and some only twice is a turn-off. As for the player welfare issue... quite seriously, I can't imagine anything worse.

Just recently, I spent some time in the US, where the rugby people are setting up a state-of-the-art training facility in Colorado. There was a serious discussion going on there about extending the American football season to 18 matches. Yes, 18. Just in case it has slipped your notice, these blokes wear helmets and three tons of padding!

Revenue streams are the lifeblood of professional sport. Everyone knows that. But by cramming in new competitions wherever there is an inch of space in the fixture list and overloading the players, administrators run the risk of undermining their own product. Rugby relies on intensity and emotion, not people going through the motions because they have nothing left in the tank.

Having coached in England, I now know how bloody hard it is at Premiership and European level. By all means set up a tournament designed to give talented young fringe players their share of competitive activity, but for heaven's sake allow the senior players a chance to stay in decent shape.

Going back to last weekend's game in Cardiff, I think Ronan O'Gara, the Irish outside-half, did enough to claim the Lions Test shirt in South Africa this summer. He had a pretty rough time of it in the first half – the Welsh really went after him – and had he not pulled his game together after the interval, Ireland wouldn't be celebrating their first Grand Slam in 61 years. But he did pull himself together, extremely impressively, and I believe he has the all-round game the Lions will require.

Of course, the tourists will need more than a good goal-kicking 10. I'll be intrigued to see the final shape of Ian McGeechan's squad because I think he has a lot on his plate selection-wise. Most coaches will tell you that the first 25 players of a 35-man party are easy to find, and that the trick is to get it right with the last 10, who often set the tone on a tour. In this case, I think there are only 16 or 17 obvious picks, which leaves at least 18 borderline ones. Ian will need to draw on all his immense experience to get the balance right.