New Law - tights

Looks like there is a new law to be introduced with immediate effect. Players can wear tights or leggings on an artificial pitch.

What are the collective V2 thoughts on this ?

I am a staunch EH&S man, I vigorously enforce this throughout my business, and initially I thought, good. But the more I think about it, would this hamper the players during the tackle scenario ? I mean, the tackling player could grab a handfull of leggings, where as previously they would just slip off naked skin, or could it be the other way around where the leggings are those shiny slippery types that you see the women wearing and they make a player harder to tackle. I just do not know.

Good for EH&S yes, good for anything else, hmmmm I cannot decide. I will leave it open for the people of V2 to decide.

If it improves player welfare then good

ive played on artifical pitches and have had both good and bad experiences on them so anything that helps prevent skin being removed is only a good thing!

Pardon my ignorance, but what is EH&S?

I can't see many (any) players using these at the pro level. I think they will be an impediment to you if you are being tackled and they will also likely become uncomfortable once you are fully warmed up.

A lot of rugby is played on artificial surfaces now and most pros are very used to it and see the advantages it gives to the spectacle of the game when played on a decent pitch. If rugby is going to stay a winter game, which I hope it will, then I think these pitches are hear to stay, especially in the wettter parts of the country.

They may be more popular at lower levels of the game though. We will see,

Old Man wrote:Pardon my ignorance, but what is EH&S?

Environmental Health and safety.

Tramptastic wrote:If it improves player welfare then good

ive played on artifical pitches and have had both good and bad experiences on them so anything that helps prevent skin being removed is only a good thing!

I remember in my playing days, at the beginning and end of the season playing on rock hard grass pitches where not much skin used to survive the first tackle.

I don't think it is a major problem unless the pitches have not been prepared properly.

Cool 


Not my brightest moment, eh?

BigGee wrote:I can't see many (any) players using these at the pro level. I think they will be an impediment to you if you are being tackled and they will also likely become uncomfortable once you are fully warmed up.

A lot of rugby is played on artificial surfaces now and most pros are very used to it and see the advantages it gives to the spectacle of the game when played on a decent pitch. If rugby is going to stay a winter game, which I hope it will, then I think these pitches are hear to stay, especially in the wettter parts of the country.

They may be more popular at lower levels of the game though. We will see,

On the BBC podcast Ashton and Care were more in favour of artificial surfaces but you do see some horrible looking burns, one under Freddie Burns twitter if you want to go looking. I am a convert to summer rugby, my secret wish is the global season all moves to that time.

Many of the artificial turf pitches will abrade the skin clean off, nothing serious, but significant abrasions and rug burn. But the blood has to be covered.  The 5G pitches are supposed to be better in this regard, but haven't seen any data yet.  My one experience playing on a 5G pitch was better than the all artificial ones.

How does having a better phone signal help?

doctor_grey wrote:Many of the artificial turf pitches will abrade the skin clean off, nothing serious, but significant abrasions and rug burn.  But the blood has to be covered.  The 5G pitches are supposed to be better in this regard, but haven't seen any data yet.  My one experience playing on a 5G pitch was better than the all artificial ones.

Where was this 5G pitch?

Always worth remembering here, of course. that these plastic pitches are not all the same and their quality is not only determined during the installation process but also by the quality of its maintenance.

Its a sensible move as we get more artificial pitches, and it brings the men's and women's game into alignment.

I suspect in the pro leagues we'll see a few players adopt them at first but it will accelerate as the sportswear manufacturers work on the technology. How long will it take Jonny May to find a pair of compression leggings that give him a marginal improvement in blood flow and recovery time, for instance? And how long before other wingers copy him?

And how long before we get something like the skinsuit controversy in swimming where some players start wearing ultra slippery fabrics to evade tackles and WR has to legislate on the makeup of the kit?

And - the question that really matters - what manner of ridiculous leggings will Joe Marler show up with for Quins' next visit to Saracens? Don't tell me it isn't going to happen, and don't tell me you're not already looking forward to it.

BigGee wrote:

Tramptastic wrote:If it improves player welfare then good

ive played on artifical pitches and have had both good and bad experiences on them so anything that helps prevent skin being removed is only a good thing!

I remember in my playing days, at the beginning and end of the season playing on rock hard grass pitches where not much skin used to survive the first tackle.

I don't think it is a major problem unless the pitches have not been prepared properly.

Ive had a few tours up to Glasgow, and played on pretty much frozen pitches.....the blades of grass....were like little individual razor blades....

Too soft these days....

PhilBB wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:Many of the artificial turf pitches will abrade the skin clean off, nothing serious, but significant abrasions and rug burn.  But the blood has to be covered.  The 5G pitches are supposed to be better in this regard, but haven't seen any data yet.  My one experience playing on a 5G pitch was better than the all artificial ones.

Where was this 5G pitch?

Always worth remembering here, of course. that these plastic pitches are not all the same and their quality is not only determined during the installation process but also by the quality of its maintenance.

The 5G pitch was at a university here in America. And, no, the phone reception did not improve.

I think the hybrid pitches will probably become more common.

I never really understood them being banned in the first place.

From personal experience of wearing them myself and playing against teammates wearing them in training it makes no difference to the tackle situation whatsoever. It's not like they're made of Vaseline. Tackling someone around the legs with/without leggings is identical in my opinion.

Jonny May is already sponsored by a compression leggings brand I believe and swears by them in training so I'd bet on him being one of the first to wear them in a game.

One thing. The OP says they are being permitted on artificial surfaces but it's actually on all surfaces. Burns from arti's definitely seems to have played a big part in the change though.

I'm too old school to wear them, but my sons wore them in school when playing in winter. Also some members of my men's team wear them and no one cares. I wasn't aware they weren't allowed. It's funny you mentioned Vaseline. That's what we put on our elbows and knees to minimise the damage from the artificial turfs.

Since most sports playing on artificial turf here in America are American Football, Soccer, and Lacrosse, most players are heavily protected, or in the case of soccer rarely hitting the turf, so a lot of the pitches are not great from a Rugby point of view.