Jonny Wilkinson has been among England's high-profile casualties

A BBC Sport investigation has seen fears over player injuries and burnout reach a new high this season.

And we have spoken to a host of key figures to see what the problem is, how it needs to be addressed and what will happen if solutions are not found.

Over the course of three days we reveal how player welfare and the running of the game are on a collision course as the playing and financial pressures take their toll.

Lawrence Dallaglio and Josh Lewsey are among the players to raise fears about burnout, while players' chief Damian Hopley says the threat of drugs, so far avoided in England, could loom if changes are not made.

Analysis: rugby's collision course

Hopley, the chief executive of the Professional Rugby players Association, takes an in-depth look at the problems facing the likes of Jonny Wilkinson and England's injury-riddled World Cup winners.

And he also warns the English game could face a "coup d'etat" if matters are not seriously addressed within the next season.

We also take a year-by-year look at professionalism across the globe since its inception in the wake of the 1995 World Cup.

BBC Sport columnists Josh Lewsey, Gareth Thomas and Geordan Murphy share their differing opinions on burnout and whether professionalism has been a success, as do four fans from across the regions.

Murphy lists a virtual shopping list of his past injuries, while Lewsey looks back at the "farcical times" of the amateur game and how the last decade has been "immensely successful".

We also reveal disturbing injury reports from every Premiership club highlighting the hundreds of players that have been left on the sidelines during this season.

While player burnout is a major concern, every single club across the board has seen crowds soar in the professional era.

Attendance figures became official in the 1996/7 season, with Leicester topping the scales with an average of 10,412 that season, while of the current Premiership sides Sale had the lowest average attendance - 2,846 per game.

Last year Sale boasted an average of 7,970 spectators per Premiership game - a 180% rise in spectators - while the Tigers still top the scales at 16,780 per game.

London Irish have seen the most remarkable rise of 229% from 2,854 to 9,401. Below is a graph highlighting the difference in the average attendance between the 1996/7 season and the last campaign.

On the last day of our investigation we talk to the key people within the day-to-day running of professionalism, including a host of behind-the-scenes figures.

Former Newcastle owner Sir John Hall reveals how he "nicked ideas from football" at the start, while Northampton chairman Keith Barwell unveils plans to turn the domestic game in England into franchises to "make rugby into a truly national game".