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Rugby Union

Cockerill blames England for fatigued players

14/02/2007

Leicester Tigers coach Richard Cockerill has returned fire in the club-versus-country debate that surrounds the selection of rugby union internationals.

Following the early announcement of his starting XV by England coach Brian Ashton in order to ensure his first-choice players are not picked for their clubs this weekend, Cockerill has said it is the national team, not clubs, that are to blame for player fatigue.

While several international coaches have urged clubs to be more mindful of how much rugby their top-level players are committed to, particularly around the time of international tournaments like the Six Nations, Cockerill has sought to redress the balance.

"We don't over-play our players, and I don't think any other clubs do either," he said.

"You only have to look back to the autumn when Julian White was played in four games on the trot by England and we had to rest him for three weeks after that.

"We had the player's interests first. England played him to near exhaustion."

Despite his disagreement with the view that club sides are the main culprits for over-playing players, Cockerill confirmed that he will be resting his internationals this weekend ahead of England's crunch Six Nations clash with Ireland on February 24th.

The Leicester coach said none of the England first-team will play a full 80 minutes against Worcester on Saturday and only prop White may make the starting XV.

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