Attention has shifted from the international side of rugby back to the domestic season but as the various Guinness PRO12 and Aviva Premiership directors of rugby and captains assessed the forthcoming European Champions Cup at Wednesday's competition launch, the problem of player burnout was a constant theme in what is the most demanding of campaigns.
The Rugby World Cup saw the start of the Premiership pushed back to mid-October with the late start meaning that unlike last year, the top flight will continue throughout the Six Nations with nine consecutive weekends of league action facing the players. There is no breathing room and while the club players are putting body on the line for their team while the Six Nations is playing out, the internationals will be there representing their nation.
Then come the end of the season will be England's tour of Australia. It is relentless.
"If it is tough for me then it is even harder for the players," Northampton Saints director of rugby Jim Mallinder said at the Champions Cup launch. "You look at it now -- World Cup, they have all had a week off but it's not massive, it's not four to six weeks. They are back in and now it is continual. Then it is the Australia tour. So it is hard for us. It is harder for the international players.
He added: "I think in hindsight if you look back you wouldn't pick that structure. It doesn't make sense and I don't think anybody in their right mind would."
Bath director of rugby Mike Ford said their recruitment strategy has been geared around filling the gaps in the squad caused by the Six Nations and in ensuring players aren't completely worn out.
His Saracens counterpart Mark McCall labelled this season a "very demanding schedule" and will utilise a "common sense" approach to squad rotation. The topic of the different nuances between south and northern hemisphere rugby was also frequently highlighted after England's poor World Cup campaign and McCall believes the southern hemisphere schedule to be more logical than the northern programme.
"This season's unique and it does open up the debate over whether the season structure is the correct one," McCall said. "The southern hemisphere structure makes a little bit more sense - with Super Rugby to internationals. Over here we play some Premiership matches, then some European matches, then Premiership then Six Nations. It's not straight forward to ensure people are fresh and enthusiastic when that's the structure you have to play in."
Exeter's Rob Baxter said player burnout is dependent on position and attrition rate and says they are aware of the dangers of fatigue but he sees it as a managerial challenge to ensure his players are hitting their peak at the right times of the season.
"It's pretty tough," Baxter said. "It's fantastically exciting and all those positives or you can look at it as a season of fatigue. That's the battle to keep players physically and mentally fit. There'll be an element of management of the players but they are enthused by the season.
"You have to manage the training load as well as match time. I'm of the view it is exciting and a new challenge and keeping the players fresh. We're not predicting any issues and we're well prepared."
For Wales international and Ospreys second-row Alun Wyn Jones, his domestic game time is limited by the dual contract he has with his region and the Welsh Rugby Union. The players on such a deal see their match time curtailed to 16 regional games a season, a system Jones believes will safeguard players' interest in the long-term.
"It could be worse, you look at the way it's been an English World Cup and now those guys have got to go back-to-back toe-to-toe week after week," Jones said. "So we're pretty fortunate that we might get a few days here and there whereas they're clogged up all the way through."