Millennium Stadium pitch... And Wales

I must be missing something here, as surely someone brought this up elsewhere... But did the WRU not just spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on a new semi-artificial surface?  Are you frickin kidding me?!?! Who exactly did they organise to lay it? The same guys who offered to Tarmac my mum's driveway last summer? The pitch today looked as bad as I've ever seen it. There were huge patches of dirt (where exactly is this alleged "weave"?) and little grass - plastic or organic - in sight anywhere. I was almost as angry about the state of the pitch as the state of the rugby. Seriously - WTF?!

On a side note - Wales were appalling today - and what little hope I had of us emerging from our group in the World Cup is all but gone. We are Poopie - and bar some kind of miracle we'll be dogging it out for 3rd place with Fiji in September. If they have two red cards!

I was really impressed with the improvements that the Scots have made on the Murrayfield playing surface.

MarcusHalberstram wrote:I must be missing something here, as surely someone brought this up elsewhere... But did the WRU not just spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on a new semi-artificial surface?  Are you frickin kidding me?!?! Who exactly did they organise to lay it? The same guys who offered to Tarmac my mum's driveway last summer? The pitch today looked as bad as I've ever seen it. There were huge patches of dirt (where exactly is this alleged "weave"?) and little grass - plastic or organic - in sight anywhere. I was almost as angry about the state of the pitch as the state of the rugby. Seriously - WTF?!

On a side note - Wales were appalling today - and what little hope I had of us emerging from our group in the World Cup is all but gone. We are Poopie - and bar some kind of miracle we'll be dogging it out for 3rd place with Fiji in September. If they have two red cards!

I didn't want to say anything on the first weekend (Wales v Australia) out of a sense of courtesy.  But I immediately had the same feeling when I saw the pitch, even in that first week.  I asked myself then as I watch some of the game "is that the new pitch???"  Either it still has to 'bed down' or whatever the terminology is for these new kinds of pitches.... OR...someone spent a lot of money on little change.

I dont want to see Wayne Barnes penalising Wyatt Crockett next week for collapsing the scrum when hes just standing in a hole.

Great, Wayne Barnes again. We've already had our fair share of him this year.

ebop wrote:Great, Wayne Barnes again. We've already had our fair share of him this year.

Trust me we all feel the same about him...

aucklandlaurie wrote:
I dont want to see Wayne Barnes penalising Wyatt Crockett next week for collapsing the scrum when hes just standing in a hole.

At least he will fall sideways, so you can just bury him and leave him there

I also had the same impression, the wru spent £3m on the dirt patch and the sru spent £1m I know who had the better deal and the better surface.

The Millennium Stadium needs a hybrid pitch due to the regular turf not getting enough sunlight(or something along those lines), hence why it has always been rubbish.

Yea why not just go totally artificial? Surely it'd aid Wales gameplan as well and let them run the ball more often.

Also if I remember right WRU host a shed load of concerts etc at the ML so an artificial pitch would hold up a lot better too.

IronMike wrote:The Millennium Stadium needs a hybrid pitch due to the regular turf not getting enough sunlight(or something along those lines), hence why it has always been rubbish.

Mike, I think the point is that we've now got a new hybrid pitch (a Desso pitch) but it still looks awful and seemed to have cut up badly. Loads of top teams in rugby at and football now use the Desso pitches (see wiki link below for list). The new Aviva in Ireland has one and Tiwcker replaced the cabbage patch for one. Their Desso pitches looks immaculate in all weather but our hybrid Desso looked awful after only two games! Odd really.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desso_GrassMaster

The Twickenham one also seems to have only cost £1M, same as Murrayfield. But the Millennium was £3M? Seems a bit strange, especially if it doesn't seem as good. Did they go for a different type?

Wasn't it raised about a meter?

The Scots and Welsh pitch are the same type/brand I suspect the WRU did not lay it early enough for the grass to settle.

Same as others according to reports:

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/giant-sewing-machines-transform-millennium-7897767

However, I'm not surprised there are problems. It's synthetic fibres interwoven with real grass. We struggled to grow real grass, so I suspect the synthetic stuff has got nothing to weave with!!!

Yappy, I'm not convinced with the all synthetic pitches. Blues fans talk of the funny bounce, etc. OK for club rugby but I think on the international stage we should try to standardise pitches as much as possible and play to the best standards we can.

I would guess that not much light ever gets to the pitch. Grass needs sunlight. Most fields are outdoors

maestegmafia wrote:Grass needs sunlight. Most fields are outdoors

Here comes the science bit!

Cyril wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Grass needs sunlight. Most fields are outdoors

Here comes the science bit!

Risca Rev wrote:

Cyril wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Grass needs sunlight. Most fields are outdoors

Here comes the science bit!

Tesla and Einstien eat your hearts out!

Are there indoor fields?

Griff wrote:

IronMike wrote:The Millennium Stadium needs a hybrid pitch due to the regular turf not getting enough sunlight(or something along those lines), hence why it has always been rubbish.

Mike, I think the point is that we've now got a new hybrid pitch (a Desso pitch) but it still looks awful and seemed to have cut up badly. Loads of top teams in rugby at and football now use the Desso pitches (see wiki link below for list). The new Aviva in Ireland has one and Tiwcker replaced the cabbage patch for one. Their Desso pitches looks immaculate in all weather but our hybrid Desso looked awful after only two games! Odd really.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desso_GrassMaster

In the Aviva they have a sunlight machine that they roll up and down the pitch when there are no games on. Maybe the grounds staff arent good enough or they dont have the right equiptment. If done right this grass should be immaculate.

Many Dubliners go to Lansdowne Road for their Summer Holidays...and Winter ones. All they need is a mat and a good book.

GunsGerms wrote:

Griff wrote:

IronMike wrote:The Millennium Stadium needs a hybrid pitch due to the regular turf not getting enough sunlight(or something along those lines), hence why it has always been rubbish.

Mike, I think the point is that we've now got a new hybrid pitch (a Desso pitch) but it still looks awful and seemed to have cut up badly. Loads of top teams in rugby at and football now use the Desso pitches (see wiki link below for list). The new Aviva in Ireland has one and Tiwcker replaced the cabbage patch for one. Their Desso pitches looks immaculate in all weather but our hybrid Desso looked awful after only two games! Odd really.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desso_GrassMaster

In the Aviva they have a sunlight machine that they roll up and down the pitch when there are no games on. Maybe the grounds staff arent good enough or they dont have the right equiptment. If done right this grass should be immaculate.

The MS also use the same equipment, they have been using it sincr the stadium wss built, with little joy as we all know.

Can't believe nothing has been made of this in the press - at least that I've seen. They spent £3.3. million on this. If it's the same Desso Grassmaster as the Twickers and Murrayfield pitches what the heck is going on? Sure, the MS has a roof, but it does open. And yes, they've had those sunlight machine's for ages.

... Looking up some stuff about Desso it seems that the artificial fibres only cover about 3% of the surface (I had assumed it was more of a half and half thing). Surely the Desso and MS people should have worked out that if grass wouldn't grow at all then the whole idea would be redundant?!

If you want to see an example where they have successfully used this technology then look at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin NZ (where England played Argentina during the WC). That stadium is completely covered and they have hybrid deso surface.


The dude who created it won an award it was so successful. Might pay to contact him!

Why are people surprused, when the WRU get involved it all goes t**s up.

MarcusHalberstram wrote:Can't believe nothing has been made of this in the press - at least that I've seen. They spent £3.3. million on this. If it's the same Desso Grassmaster as the Twickers and Murrayfield pitches what the heck is going on?  Sure, the MS has a roof, but it does open. And yes, they've had those sunlight machine's for ages.

... Looking up some stuff about  Desso it seems that the artificial fibres only cover about 3% of the surface (I had assumed it was more of a half and half thing).  Surely the Desso and MS people should have worked out that if grass wouldn't grow at all then the whole idea would be redundant?!  

Nah - now Desso will get to charge a second time for laying down a new mix of hybrid

If the Welsh use the Lights, and have a new pitch now, just like all the others.  If it's still breaking up, then it's still a design fault with the stadium (very bad reflection on the pitch consultants!) or it's a fault of administration of the complex itself through the course of a year

The roof, how often is it closed during a year?  I mean when it's not being used for concerts or rugby............... is the roof usually closed on a normal day when nothing is on?

Even when open, the amount of light through is limited as the remaining parts are more intrusive than other stadia

But light wouldn't be an issue if they have those lighting systems, Tiger. I'd be more conscious of a roof being open just for the air quality, moisture quality etc. As close to natural as possible.
I'm just wondering how many days in the year the roof is open? Is it's natural Unused position closed or open?

SecretFly wrote:But light wouldn't be an issue if they have those lighting systems, Tiger.  I'd be more conscious of a roof being open just for the air quality, moisture quality etc.  As close to natural as possible.
I'm just wondering how many days in the year the roof is open?  Is it's natural Unused position closed or open?

The roof needs to be open when ever it is not in use, sadly it is closed more often than not.

Thanks Lord. That would kinda roughly confirm my suspicions that business (and perhaps costs) are informing when the roof is closed and the closed roof is informing the growth ability of the grass and roots.

It'll need a solution because that's a lot of money to spend on a solution that is not being allowed to work as planned.

For 3 million surely the WRU could have had a giant mirror in space that directs sunlight exactly onto the millennium pitch like a James bond villain

I thought the Millennium Stadium WAS the nearest thing to a Sun God on this planet? Does not its own magnificence as a rugby stadium not shine enough inner light on the pitch - day and night?