The Industry Column – 3 November

Former England scrum-half Kyran Bracken looks ahead to this weekend’s
fixture between England and New Zealand and gives his views on whether the game
should ever have been added to the calendar…

‘There’s no doubt that this weekend’s game between the All Blacks and England
will be a fantastic occasion. Twickenham will be packed to the rafters with
everyone hoping that the English team can upset the odds and beat New Zealand.

While most commentators would back an England win more in hope than
expectation, I’m of the belief that England can and will win in front of their
home crowd. The new additions have freshened up the team and the likes of Shaun
Perry at scrum half and Paul Sackey on the wing are really deserving of the
chance to show what they can do.

For England to win, every player will need to play at the top of his game and
the All Blacks will have to play below their potential. The fact that Daniel
Carter is now in the starting line-up is a bit of a blow for England as the new
half-back combination of Kelleher and Evans is certainly something that the
English would have been looking to exploit. But I still fancy England to come
out on top.

The addition of the New Zealand game to the schedule to celebrate the opening
of Twickenham’s South Stand has again brought the issue of player injuries to
the fore. There’s no doubt in my mind that not only do players play too many
games but they also train too much and too aggressively. It varies from club to
club but in some cases players are battering the hell out of each other day in,
day out at their club training sessions. And that’s before you even put them in
a match day situation. It’s no wonder injuries have become more commonplace.
Some clubs are very good at looking after players but some don’t do enough.

Because of the injury toll, many are calling for games to be pulled from the
annual schedule, not added – an argument I would go along with in general – but
I believe that the immense appeal of the All Blacks game to English rugby fans
meant that an exception was correctly made on this occasion.

Everyone wants to see the All Blacks play, especially against England, and
when the opportunity arises for such a fixture it should be taken with both
hands. That said, the wider issue of the packed playing schedule cannot be
ignored any longer or the public will continue to be robbed of the chance to see
the top players because they’ll be spending so much time lying on the treatment
table.’