Steve Hansen has claimed Ireland are leading the way in player welfare and has called for a four-month break between seasons.
As the debate rages over the future of the Lions following plans in England to extend their domestic season into late June, the All Blacks coach and former man at the helm for Wales, has said the Irish are leading the way.
Welsh international players are currently expected to play a maximum of 31 matches per season, whilst the new English proposals are meant to restrict appearances for England players to 30 – reduced from 32, but with supposed guaranteed breaks through an overall longer season that will conflict with Lions tours.
In Ireland, however, although the maximum figures are the same 30-games mark, the reality is that the IRFU and the provinces work together to lower those figures and rest the leading players at regular intervals through the season.
Last season, Johnny Sexton played 21 matches in total – 10 Tests for Ireland and 11 games for Leinster.
So far, this season the outside-half has played just five games as he heads into the autumn Test series.
Hansen – whose All Blacks team tours Europe next month, although they do not face Wales – said: “It’s a worldwide problem and probably the team that’s managing it best at the moment is Ireland.
“They go ‘you can’t play’ because they own the players and franchises completely. They’ve got a good model.
“The one thing I’d really want is that everyone gets 16 weeks’ break between their last game and their next one.
The All Blacks beat Australia 37-20 in Japan on Saturday to complete a 3-0 Bledisloe Cup whitewash, but Hansen warned that players will continue to risk injury unless they get enough rest.
“They don’t get enough of a break,” he added.
“You can’t keep going round and round and round without running out of petrol — at some stage you’ve got to recharge the tank.”
New Zealand face 2019 World Cup hosts Japan in Tokyo next weekend before completing their five-match tour against England, Ireland and Italy.
“You can rest assured we’ve got a lot of respect for England.
“They’ve got one or two people injured at the moment but so does everybody, that’s the nature of the beast. That’s why I keep harping on about the need for a global season that looks after the welfare of the players.”
English domestic and international rugby will be played over an 11-month season under a new structure that will run for four years from 2019-2020.
The Gallagher Premiership, which has traditionally run from early September to the end of May, will now start and finish later.
Twickenham will host the finals on June 20, 26 and 18 for the years 2020-22 with the campaigns launching on October 20, September 12 and September 18 respectively.
