Start off with the 'new' and finish with the old

I FIND it hard to understand why there are now so many breaks in the Six Nations competition as after just having a week off we now face another break extending the competition from the February 1 to March 15.

- JEFF PROBYN

I understand the continual pressure for safeguarding players’ health and reduce the risk of potential injury but I think the breaks could actually increase injury risks.

All players will tell you that when a new season starts it always takes a few weeks to once again get back into playing mode of putting yourself in the right position to make or take tackles, or form scrums and lineouts etc. This is simply because rugby is a habit game that needs to be played weekly if you are to be at your best and focus on winning.

I know it is an age since I played at international level but back then it was a weekly competition with no breaks in the contest just meeting on the Wednesday before the games for pre-match training.

As the ‘week off ’ doesn’t see the England players returning to their clubs, unlike the players from the other competing countries, it should give Steve Borthwick and his coaching team an advantage over the opposition by being able to have these extra training successions between games.

Facing Scotland this week, Borthwick would have been grateful for the extra time he has had with the squad to build on the win against France, especially having lost the last five previous Calcutta Cup matches.