All Blacks No.8 Kieran Read has urged world rugby bosses to consider ways to shorten the international season.
Read made his plea at a press conference on Tuesday, in a room adjacent to where the International Rugby Board was meeting to discuss the structure of the global game.
An integrated season between the hemispheres has been on the IRB agenda for a decade, with little progress made.
Read says while the number of Tests per season - ranging from 12 to 15 for leading nations - is manageable, the best players in both hemispheres are being forced to play for too long.
"Northern hemisphere teams coming down right at the end of their season extends their season - the same as we're doing right now," Read said.
"It would be great if we could align that a lot better."
Read, one of the senior All Blacks who has a liaison role with the New Zealand Rugby Players' Association, says the length of the off-season is crucial for player welfare.
The current break for leading All Blacks is typically less than two months, before they join their Super Rugby teams a couple of weeks out from that competition.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen recently described the longer break after World Cups every four years as a "release valve" for the overworked players.
Read says it is important for rugby's credibility that the players aren't mentally or physically fatigued when they play a Test.
He had no concern about the extra load added by this month's Test against minnows Japan as it fell within the season and didn't involve a number of All Blacks who have endured a heavy season.
Negotiations are under way for a game in the United States next year which, like the Japan Test, would be developmental as well as a branding exercise for sponsors.
It is the season-ending tours which are problematic, Read says, emphasised when the top Northern Hemisphere teams travel south in June, often fielding weakened teams after 10 months of club and Test commitments.
"It's a long season for them. You never want to be looking at a holiday but that sometimes can creep in," he said.
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