The new Millenium Stadium pitch underway

I think we all know what state the Millenium Stadium pitch is in, will the upgraded hybrid "Desso" pitch make a big improvement on the quality of games there? So many scrum collapses, players slipping and so on have ruined certain matches a little.


Pictures of the installation http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/millennium-stadium-desso-pitch-work-7528532

The one at Twickenham has gone down a storm so hopefully it'll be grand.

It can only be a huge improvement on what has been a disgraceful and dangerous pitch

Allty wrote:It can only be a huge improvement on what has been a disgraceful and dangerous pitch

If you've ever played the game the words 'disgracefull and dangerous' would be reserved for those places where you get a face full of cattle feaces, places a ball can be layed down and roll 80 metres, the odd cliff edge 1 metre from the touchline, the drainage system covers on the halfway line, not to mention the 8 inch deep bogs, or concrete like runways.

The favourite had to be when playing in SA, there was only 70m of pitch, so on gameday we would have to park our cars in a way to compliment the flags highlighting the tryline and dead ball area was in the car park, sand, gravel and very hard ground was nothing, after all we did spray it green...

Good times, millenium stadium dangerous... pah!

Some would say its 15 years too late but this has to be good news not least for the front rows who must have dreaded scrumtime.

I'm not sure how many 'pallet pitches' were installed over this period of time but a good decision by the WRU.
Did I just say that  

Neutralee wrote:

Allty wrote:It can only be a huge improvement on what has been a disgraceful and dangerous pitch

If you've ever played the game the words 'disgracefull and dangerous' would be reserved for those places where you get a face full of cattle feaces, places a ball can be layed down and roll 80 metres, the odd cliff edge 1 metre from the touchline, the drainage system covers on the halfway line, not to mention the 8 inch deep bogs, or concrete like runways.

The favourite had to be when playing in SA, there was only 70m of pitch, so on gameday we would have to park our cars in a way to compliment the flags highlighting the tryline and dead ball area was in the car park, sand, gravel and very hard ground was nothing, after all we did spray it green...

Good times, millenium stadium dangerous... pah!

Fiji's first international pitch with a tree in the middle was possibly dangerous. The MS isnt. However, Landsdowne and Twickers already use this grass system and it is usually excellent in LR anyway so Im sure it will make a big difference in the MS.

Whenever you have front rows collapsing out of control because of a pitch it is best described as dangerous.

Maybe it is then. Never heard about that.

Whenever you have front rows collapsing in a field more closely resembling a swap is best described as dangerous: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtCn5nESB3M

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Whenever you have front rows collapsing in a field more closely resembling a swap is best described as dangerous: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtCn5nESB3M

The Welsh front rows will collapse scrums regardless of how good the pitch is anyway.

8 - 10 inches of water = dangerous.

Slipping in the mud not so much.

Put things in perspective people, I know it's easy on threads like these for cheap shots against nations you dislike, but leave the 'dangerous' peg for real dangerous pitches, besides Tiwckenham, murrayfield have both been as bad in recent years!

There's plenty of stadiums that'd be much more fitted for the 'dangerous' label. I've never known of anyone to die or suffer a serious injury as a result of scrum collapses due to poor turf (in the MS anyway, not sure if there's been instances elsewhere).

Correct decision on the whole, of course. The current patch was given more than its fair chance and proved sub-standard time and again.

I don't get it, did they stick with the same provider all that time? I heard a rumour once that the guy who did provide the old turf used to get a hospitality box and complimentary champagne for his troubles. That would be the real disgrace if true.

Knowsit17 wrote:There's plenty of stadiums that'd be much more fitted for the 'dangerous' label. I've never known of anyone to die or suffer a serious injury as a result of scrum collapses due to poor turf (in the MS anyway, not sure if there's been instances elsewhere).

Correct decision on the whole, of course. The current patch was given more than its fair chance and proved sub-standard time and again.

I don't get it, did they stick with the same provider all that time? I heard a rumour once that the guy who did provide the old turf used to get a hospitality box and complimentary champagne for his troubles. That would be the real disgrace if true.

I can't believe that anyone could think our union would be involved in iffy deals

I'm hoping this will all be good and we can get the pitch that the magnificient MS deserves.

Personally I would of loved the bold choice to of been taken and the installation of a plastic pitch like the Arms pk.

I can't wait to see what effect a plastic pitch will have on the international game, plus there's the community availability angle that would of changed the usage possibilities.

Muddyfield should definitely go plastic.....like Newcastle are doing.

kingelderfield wrote:I'm hoping this will all be good and we can get the pitch that the magnificient MS deserves.

Personally I would of loved the bold choice to of been taken and the installation of a plastic pitch like the Arms pk.

I can't wait to see what effect a plastic pitch will have on the international game, plus there's the community availability angle that would of changed the usage possibilities.

Muddyfield should definitely go plastic.....like Newcastle are doing.

In all honesty, I'm a bit undecided about the Arms Park pitch, reports are that injuries are more likely on its hard surface and the ball bounces a bit more oddly than normal. Could all be a load of Love sacks but I do think the Liberty Stadium pitch is well regarded.

Scotland to play Tonga on artificial pitch - first Tier 1 nation to do so.......

http://www.espn.co.uk/scotland/rugby/story/236519.html

kingelderfield wrote:Scotland to play Tonga on artificial pitch - first Tier 1 nation to do so.......

http://www.espn.co.uk/scotland/rugby/story/236519.html

Which tier 1 nation is that?

  

Tonga

IronMike wrote:

kingelderfield wrote:I'm hoping this will all be good and we can get the pitch that the magnificient MS deserves.

Personally I would of loved the bold choice to of been taken and the installation of a plastic pitch like the Arms pk.

I can't wait to see what effect a plastic pitch will have on the international game, plus there's the community availability angle that would of changed the usage possibilities.

Muddyfield should definitely go plastic.....like Newcastle are doing.

In all honesty, I'm a bit undecided about the Arms Park pitch, reports are that injuries are more likely on its hard surface and the ball bounces a bit more oddly than normal. Could all be a load of Love sacks but I do think the Liberty Stadium pitch is well regarded.

From what I've read there was a lot of fear over injuries but apart from abrasions there was little apparent.

I first played rugby in the South Wales valleys in the mid-1950s, when there were several pitches which didn't help the game. Mind you, the most frustrating wasn't really a bad pitch at all - it was the ball going over the touchline into the river, with a guy in a rowing boat retrieving it, which held up play half-a-dozen times during one game.

As for international pitches, the worst I've known as a fan was the old Cardiff Arms Park. A wartime bomb had made a big crater at one end. Although this had obviously been filled in, every time it rained heavily - not unknown in Wales - that area of the pitch became a quagmire of mud, and fans couldn't tell who was who or what side they were on.  Added to which, a heavy leather ball landing in mud doesn't bounce, it just lies there.

But the worst pitch of all was in northern France, where I helped take a group of youngsters on holiday. The all-purpose village football/rugby/recreation ground had a deep hole right in the middle. Whenever we played on it, there was always a lad willing to stand in the hole - to mark it like another kind of buoy, in the sea, indicating a hazard to shipping -  and watch the game go on around him!

I can't remember if it was the training pitch or the actual stadium but there is a great story Francois Pienaar likes to tell about his days at Saracens.
 
He arrived as quite possibly the most famous rugby player in the world outside of Jonah Lomu.
 
World cup winning captain, national and global icon in the mid-late 90s.... yet this status wasn't enough from him getting out of the duty of picking up dog crap on the playing pitches.

fa0019 wrote:I can't remember if it was the training pitch or the actual stadium but there is a great story Francois Pienaar likes to tell about his days at Saracens.
 
He arrived as quite possibly the most famous rugby player in the world outside of Jonah Lomu.
 
World cup winning captain, national and global icon in the mid-late 90s.... yet this status wasn't enough from him getting out of the duty of picking up dog crap on the playing pitches.

 
Saracens.....South Africans.......dog crap.......must resist.....