Andrew calls into question future of summer tours

ROB ANDREW called into question the future of summer tours in the year of a World Cup after England yesterday named a squad missing a staggering 41 players for the two-Test trip to South Africa.

The issue of Test matches being devalued by weakened teams has been on the IRB’s agenda since at least last year and it will be discussed again at today’s executive committee meeting in Dublin.

The problem is more acute this year because of the World Cup taking place in September, which squeezes the end of this season and the start of next.

Wales and Ireland have named shadow squads for their tours of Australia and Argentina respectively to ensure key first-choice players can prepare properly for the World Cup.

England are further affected by the loss of all players from Leicester, Wasps and Bath who are in action in European finals a weekend before the first Test in Bloemfontein on May 26.

Andrew, the Rugby Football Union’s elite director of rugby, said: “We have been pretty unfortunate in one sense that three teams have got into two European finals on the weekend before the tour goes.

“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.’’

An IRB spokesman admitted: “It is something we are looking to resolve. It is the subject of on-going discussions and it will be discussed again tomorrow.”