Ben Youngs urges Premiership Rugby consider player welfare in scheduling matches after lockdown

England scrum-half Ben Youngs urged Premiership Rugby to keep in mind player welfare as they plan to complete the ongoing season following the outbreak coronavirus.

With most of the domestic competitions cancelled in the ongoing season cancelled, Premiership Rugby said they are determined to complete the tournament which has nine rounds left once the situation eases out.

The board is considering various options from mid-week games to pushing the final in October in a bid to finish the season and Youngs said the players will need to adapt but warned against risking the player welfare.

“There is a good possibility that we will finish the season and two weeks later could be potentially starting the new season but if that’s what needs to happen then that’s what needs to happen," he told told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“As players, you’ve just got to adapt to that and be ready. But we obviously have the concussion rate in rugby, which has been a hot topic for a while now, there’s no way that we could be playing two games a week.

“It just wouldn’t work, we haven’t got the squad size to be able to do that, you’d be putting the players at risk.

“Whether things have to get shifted about, whether potentially Europe’s not played, whether the Premiership Rugby Cup’s not played, I’m not quite sure.

“But there has to be an element where we get the season finished and the next season may start early but there has to be changes within the schedule to allow people to physically and mentally freshen up.

“Otherwise if you’re going week-in, week-out you’re going to end up with a very depleted squad by the end of it.”