Thursday 5 November 2015 09:48, UK
Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder has criticised the structure of the 2015/16 season for the elite Premiership players, arguing "it doesn't make sense".
The World Cup has resulted in major changes in scheduling, with the Aviva Premiership delayed until October, while the competition will also be played throughout the RBS 6 Nations.
The European Rugby Champions Cup will continue as normal, but the LV= Cup, the development competition that enables senior players to be rested, has been scrapped altogether.
Following the conclusion of the domestic season, England play a Test against Wales at Twickenham and then face a three-stop summer tour to Australia, while the Saxons visit South Africa.
In hindsight, you wouldn't pick that structure. It doesn't make sense and I don't think anybody in their right mind would have picked it.
"If it's tough for me as a coach, then it's even harder for the players," Mallinder said. "All of Northampton's World Cup players have had a week off, but that's not a massive break, it's not four to six weeks.
"They're back in and now it is continual until the end of the season. Then there's the Australia tour. So it's even harder for the international players.
"In hindsight, you wouldn't pick that structure. It doesn't make sense and I don't think anybody in their right mind would have picked it."
Mallinder did stop short of saying the English game was totally broken, however.
The national team may have produced their worst World Cup performance by failing to make it out of the group stage for the first time, but Mallinder insists the building blocks are in place.
"Without a doubt, we have the players - from our props through to our back three," Mallinder said.
"We have strength in depth, it's a question of getting the right blend together and doing what some of the other nations have done.
"We need to get our game plan and recruitment right. We must pick the right players for the right occasion.
"These things haven't been missing all the time up until now - we've seen that in some of the games England have played.
"In some Six Nations matches and in some of the internationals against southern hemisphere opposition, England have been fantastic. We just need to do that consistently."
