Bigger players and the growing intensity of the game is making rugby union an increasingly hazardous sport, it has been claimed.

According to the Independent, the number of sports injuries sustained in professional rugby is rising due to "the new breed of colossal player", who is larger, quicker and more powerful than his predecessors.

As an example, the newspaper cited England's match against Australia at Twickenham on Saturday (November 7th), when 12 of head coach Martin Johnson's original 32-man squad were unavailable due to physical problems.

In addition, several different types of injury have afflicted the England rugby camp in recent weeks, with hamstring, shoulder, knee, foot and toe problems all featuring in the treatment room.

Simon Kemp, head of sports medicine at the Rugby Football Union in England, told the Financial Times earlier this year that the nation's professional rugby players spent an average of 69 days a year on the sidelines with injuries between 2002 and 2004.

England were beaten 18-9 by the Wallabies on Saturday, with the returning Jonny Wilkinson scoring two penalties and a drop goal for Johnson's side.