PREMIERSHIP player fitness levels are set to be tested to their limit after leading referee Wayne Barnes revealed dramatic increases in ball-in-play time in the wake of new laws around the scrum and ruck areas for season 2017-18.
With hooking now mandatory at scrum-time and tacklers having to get up and re-enter from behind, teams are being encouraged to play and Barnes believes the game will become a better spectacle for fans.
Ball-in-play time at the 1995 World Cup stood at just 35 minutes in an 80-minute match (43%), but by 2008 that had risen to 38 minutes (47.5%) while this season&rsqu...