Pitch surfaces?

[Dai Perk]

Hello, my friends,

Am I imagining it, or are all the UK pitches various types of artificial turf, while the French actually use grass? That must cause different planning for how to approach a match, yes?

What about Italy? Do they use turf, or grass? Or am I oversimplifying?

Thanks, y'all!

Dave

 

[Scotty]

https://www.therugbyforum.com/threads/prem-players-who-dont-play-on-artificial-turf.42660/

This thread might help.

But not all in England are artifical, Falcons and Sarries have them but the rest are grass i believe. Not sure about other country but the 6N is played on all grass pitches.

 

[dullonien]

In Wales Cardiff Blues play on an artificial pitch, Scarlets play on grass, whilst the Ospreys, Dragons and the pitch in the Principality Stadium are all desso pitches.

Desso is a blend of real grass reinforced with artificial fibres. Imo this is the best surface for rugby, but it's an expensive option, costing more than grass and fully artificial surfaces.

 

[Dai Perk]

Thanks, my friends, very informative as always... I notice the French pitches seem to get torn up really quick, but then again, it's been very rainy the last few weeks and I'm sure that's not necessarily ordinary. I wonder if any NFL teams use Desso, sounds like a great option and lord knows they aren't lacking the funds...

 

[andysimcoe]

There's a list here, though I don't know how up-to-date it is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GrassMaster#Major_installations

As for France, Stade de France does have Desso GrassMaster but it lacks heating - something about the potential of gas lines blowing up or something which is why we've had games cancelled there in the past. - The pitch was drenched not it blowing up...

 

[Dai Perk]

It'd be nice for there to be a bit more consistency among the Six Nations' teams and their home fields, but that's a lot easier, say, in the NFL, where they have scads and scads of billions of dollars...