Edinburgh have been granted permission to build their own 'mini Murrayfield' right next door to the national stadium. It will also have an artificial pitch.

<< Edinburgh rugby >>

Gloucester now have an artificial pitch too, although that is I believe of the hybrid grass/plastic variety. Interestingly that means of the 18 senior teams in the UK, seven will now have an artificial pitch of one sort or another.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 23/10/2018 14:10 by GazzaFez.

Bound to upset a few of old school!

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European champions 2016 & 2017

All we need now is artificial mud !

Seem to recall the Edinburgh coach having something to say about plastic pitches in a former life.

Just like the chap at Falcons.

Who said 'It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.'?

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I was 17 miles from Graybridge before I was caught by the school leopard

Quote:

AlanE
Seem to recall the Edinburgh coach having something to say about plastic pitches in a former life.
Just like the chap at Falcons.

Who said 'It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.'?

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£721.05 (*) donated to the Saracens Foundation due to visits to the Sarries frontpage [www.rugbynetwork.net]

Please read and submit articles for publication. (*) As at October 31, 2018.

Has Ed G had anything to do with this ?

"Cockerill believes it will be "great for Edinburgh to have our own home" and the "start of something very special".

I think the Gloucester pitch is deemed hybrid so it includes natural grass and therefore reacts more like grass than all-plastic pitches.

I don't think it is renowned for unnatural bounces, hard surface or burns that plastic pitches seem to promote.

Top class football in this country has banned the use of plastic pitches and I think rugby should follow suit. Imo.

Quote:

John Tee
I think the Gloucester pitch is deemed hybrid so it includes natural grass and therefore reacts more like grass than all-plastic pitches.
I don't think it is renowned for unnatural bounces, hard surface or burns that plastic pitches seem to promote.

Top class football in this country has banned the use of plastic pitches and I think rugby should follow suit. Imo.

It's the time of year to put the clocks back, a few decades should do!

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£721.05 (*) donated to the Saracens Foundation due to visits to the Sarries frontpage [www.rugbynetwork.net]

Please read and submit articles for publication. (*) As at October 31, 2018.

Quote:

TonyTaff

Quote:

John Tee
I think the Gloucester pitch is deemed hybrid so it includes natural grass and therefore reacts more like grass than all-plastic pitches.
I don't think it is renowned for unnatural bounces, hard surface or burns that plastic pitches seem to promote.

Top class football in this country has banned the use of plastic pitches and I think rugby should follow suit. Imo.

It's the time of year to put the clocks back, a few decades should do!

If you like but there is a reason they are banned.
Carpet burns would be enough, the unnatural bounce would be another. Hard surfaces promoting some injuries. Fast surface produced unnatural speed of the ball across the turf.

But if you don't understand, you don't understand.
Oh well.

Do you have a pair of boots suitable for plastic..?

I'm not saying there aren't some probable complications with synthetic pitches but the one we have at AzP was specifically designed for Rugby and is different to "soccer" pitches.

Also no special boots are required, perhaps just a change to stud length and it has been officially approved by International Rugby.

If you have ventured on to our pitch it is anything but hard.

There are pro's and cons with both grass and synthetic and folks will be on one side of the fence or the other.

Lets face it ours has become a great community asset - I believe Gordon Banks once said it was used 360 days out of 365 you couldn't do that with a grass pitch.

I don't get the comments about unnatural bounce - much loved by the commentators especially Ben Kay (expert in unpredictable bounce off the palms of the hands). Does anyone understand this?

Surely the bounce of the ball has always been unpredictable on whatever type of pitch - and grass pitches give inconsistent bounce as between hard early autumn pitches and mudlarks at (for example) the Rec.

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I was 17 miles from Graybridge before I was caught by the school leopard

Our club trains on astro but plays on grass...the bounce on both is inconsistent (what with the ball being an egg and all) but because the bounce on astro is much firmer, the difference is often more marked as it bounces higher, further and/or changes direction more markedly etc. so I suppose you could say that is more inconsistent...sort of.

One thing you don't get is the sudden stop in a quagmire just in front of the posts...a very useful grubber technique at level 10 rugby pitches around the country (and Welford Road after one of their concerts).

Plastic pitches, rubber crumb.... Call em what you will... They aren't good. A hybrid pitch on the other hand is far more sensible..... Maybe why HQ has one.
Yes we have one at Exeter and in truth it's a fantastic surface.
Plastic pitches..... No thanks

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I drink and forget stuff!

Quote:

Jehovas Sandals
Plastic pitches, rubber crumb.... Call em what you will... They aren't good. A hybrid pitch on the other hand is far more sensible..... Maybe why HQ has one.
Yes we have one at Exeter and in truth it's a fantastic surface.
Plastic pitches..... No thanks

It's easy to say "they aren't good" but why do you say that? If the pitch is required by planning conditions to be available 365 days a year for community use, as well as a handful of professional fixtures, then an artificial pitch is probably the only answer and is therefore "very good" to satisfy the needs.

In football, the bounce and run of the ball is key. Rugby, admittedly has other variations which is probably promyedfirst and foremost by ball shape.
Therefore top class football in England will not allow games on plastic pitches...
Having played on them I think they may aggregate strains and injuries but that is also hard to prove absolutely.
The more time they are in use, the better that data will be.

Things like the correct boots and give in the turf might be issues. The very thing that people like, like a solid scrum platform may also be the thing that causes injuries when studs get caught in 'turf'.

My opinion is that rugby isn't very condusive to being played on plastic...but understand that the wear and tear overrules that especially if the pitch needs to be used alot

The best football pitches don't get anything like the wear and tear and there are probably protocols about who and when players can actually go on them...

I don't care what football wants or thinks. Look how long its taken them to get round to video replays.

We get to see rugby on AP's plastic and also plenty of games on grass at away grounds.

In the middle of winter we enjoy fast, summer type rugby at AP and often watch stodgy old style winter rugby at away grounds, especially if it's been raining hard.

Long live our plastic. I hope its there for good.

Quote:

Duncan96

Long live our plastic. I hope its there for good.

Well if you listen to Sir David Attenborough I think you'll get your wish!

This is why rugby is still quite backward in a lot of things.
I'm against plastic personally but can see the attraction in financial terms alone.
By the same token, pitch standards are very variable across the league but promoted teams should have to have minimum standards as to the pitch and grounds.

Glaws have invested in a new pitch, others may need to but don't.