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Rugby Union

Andrew questions international schedule

01/05/2007

England's director of elite rugby Rob Andrew has questioned the validity of summer tours, especially in the same year as a World Cup.

Andrew will discuss the prospect of dropping certain tours with the International Rugby Board (IRB) at a meeting with the executive committee tomorrow.

The former England fly-half is concerned that Test matches are being devalued by the inability of national sides to field full-strength teams because of prior commitments to their clubs.

Andrew's comments come on the same day that England announced a 30-man squad for the three-Test series with South Africa next month.

The squad is without any players from Leicester, Wasps or Bath because of their qualification for the two European club finals.

"You have to look at what a September World Cup means in terms of scheduling," he said.

"It is pretty tight at the end of a long season. The IRB are looking at this window in a pre-World Cup year and whether there should be any touring from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere. It wouldn't surprise me if this was addressed moving forward."

The IRB are sympathetic to Andrew's concerns and are said to be actively looking into alternative plans for the international tour schedule, particularly in World Cup years.

An IRB spokesman told the Press Association: "It is something we are looking to resolve. It is the subject of on-going discussions and it will be discussed again tomorrow."

Part of the reason next year's Heineken Cup was put in jeopardy was because of the amount of games players were expected to take part in without a break after the World Cup.

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