Paul Rees wonders about the effect of increased physicality on smaller backs in The Guardian.
"Backs, it seems, are shouldering a problem of the professional game: as players become bigger and stronger, as collisions multiply with blitz, rather than drift, defences now de rigueur and as the stealthy abolition of rucking has created a static pile-up in which inert bodies are often hit hard by a late arrival, injuries seem rugby's biggest growth area.
"A few years ago, knee ligament surgeons were in big demand; today it is shoulder specialists. If a look at the England elite squad does not suggest that careers are getting shorter, with 12 of the 32 players over the age of 30 and a 13th, Andrew Sheridan, another shoulder injury victim, joining them in a couple of weeks, a closer inspection reveals a clear split.
"Ten of the 18 forwards, not including Sheridan, are 30 or over but only two of the backs have reached that landmark, Jonny Wilkinson and Mike Tindall, although Mark Cueto and Riki Flutey, who is currently out with a shoulder injury, will say farewell to their twenties during the course of the season.
"Wilkinson and Tindall have not reached their thirties without numerous operations. Wilkinson's fearless tackling landed him with neck and shoulder problems that cost him after the 2003 World Cup and his story shows that a little 'un will be left battered and bruised by big 'uns."
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