Dallaglio says it is the players' responsibility to change matters

Dallaglio led the national side during two separate stints and is still eyeing a place on the Lions tour to New Zealand despite bowing out of international rugby.

The 32-year-old, who missed almost a year out of rugby following knee reconstruction surgery in 2001, remains Wasps captain.

Here he raises his fears about the effect of the professional game on his players.

Something needs to be done to address player burnout. You only need to look at someone like Jonny Wilkinson to realise how worrying it is.

When he last played he was the best player in the world.

But the best player in the world hasn't now really played for the best part of a year and he's not been in an England shirt for an age.

What concerns me is the length of the season in this part of the world, the level of the training and what the players are being asked to do.

One of the reasons I retired from international rugby was that I had played a total of 71 matches in the last two years - that's roughly one every 10 days.

There were some 17/18 international matches and that was mentally exhausting and physically exhausting.

But to make a change, I do think the responsibility is with the players. There are certainly players that are so committed that if they carry on like that, they will last no more than a year or two.