RugbyRebels

Dan Robson posted picture of his heavily grazed leg and noted with some relief that was his final game on 4G this season.

Are these pitches not popular among players?

I feel like that's quite regular these days isn't it? A lot of players that vocally hate them. I'm not sure if there is any sort of tipping point where they become so unpopular it actually makes an impact though.

fivepointer wrote:Dan Robson posted picture of his heavily grazed leg and noted with some relief that was his final game on 4G this season.

Are these pitches not popular among players?

They are not amongst the players I know in the prem.

Robson is just the latest to post on this. Lawes and Nowell have both done so recently too.

Synthetic playing surfaces increase the incidence of match injuries in an elite Rugby Union team
Ben E W Cousins et al. J Sci Med Sport. 2022 Feb:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34538756/

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ ... -1.3641369

I couldn't find anything positive about them

Until I looked at a soccer vendor website. Their site doesn't seem to sell pitches, but they sure want people playing all year round.

https://www.thesoccerstore.co.uk/blog/f ... -4g-pitch/

Purely anecdotal, but those grazes look pretty similar to my teen skateboarding wounds when I was stupid enough not to wear jeans or elbow pads. There was no skin there for 3 months

Scars on the back of my hand are still visible 3 years after playing on a 4g pitch. Hate it.

I can see it getting banned. If the injuries don’t get it then eco concerns will.

Mellsblue wrote:I can see it getting banned. If the injuries don’t get it then eco concerns will.

It'd be a big call, considering the cost of replacing it for teams that have already invested (not to mention La Defense it's impossible to have a grass pitch). I don't like them, but I don't see any union having the minerals to go so far as to institute a ban.

Puja

I don't understand the need for a 4G pitch. You can get hybrid pitches where the grass and soil is supported so doesn't cut up. I played on one a few years ago that a local sports club had managed to get through a community grant. Was used all weekend through winter by rugby clubs and foot all clubs. I played there after a week of constant rain, very wet but not very muddy. Great surface.

For someone with dodgy knees I loved it. Meant quite a bit of running rugby was played mid winter as well which didn't tend to be the case at that club before the change in surface.

Puja wrote:

Mellsblue wrote:I can see it getting banned. If the injuries don’t get it then eco concerns will.

It'd be a big call, considering the cost of replacing it for teams that have already invested (not to mention La Defense it's impossible to have a grass pitch). I don't like them, but I don't see any union having the minerals to go so far as to institute a ban.

Puja

At the end of life span you would return to grass. Exemptions for Le Defense and any other indoor pitches.

FKAS wrote:I don't understand the need for a 4G pitch. You can get hybrid pitches where the grass and soil is supported so doesn't cut up. I played on one a few years ago that a local sports club had managed to get through a community grant. Was used all weekend through winter by rugby clubs and foot all clubs. I played there after a week of constant rain, very wet but not very muddy. Great surface.

For someone with dodgy knees I loved it. Meant quite a bit of running rugby was played mid winter as well which didn't tend to be the case at that club before the change in surface.

Sadly, a lot of the U.K. sees a lot more rain than sunny Leicestershire.
Also, the paper I posted shows hybrid pitches also increase injury… which was a shock to me.

Mellsblue wrote:

FKAS wrote:I don't understand the need for a 4G pitch. You can get hybrid pitches where the grass and soil is supported so doesn't cut up. I played on one a few years ago that a local sports club had managed to get through a community grant. Was used all weekend through winter by rugby clubs and foot all clubs. I played there after a week of constant rain, very wet but not very muddy. Great surface.

For someone with dodgy knees I loved it. Meant quite a bit of running rugby was played mid winter as well which didn't tend to be the case at that club before the change in surface.

Sadly, a lot of the U.K. sees a lot more rain than sunny Leicestershire.
Also, the paper I posted shows hybrid pitches also increase injury… which was a shock to me.

Yeah the not muddy was a surprise. Previously playing at that club you'd be ankle deep in mid winter. If Leicestershire is sunny then I'm surprised the rest of the country isn't under water. My playing recollections are pretty heavy with mud bath games. I did also play games in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire with similar weather conditions.

Interesting that hybrid pitches have bad outcomes in the paper, I suppose there's hybrid pitches of wildly varying quality depending on age, upkeep and level technological sophistication.

FKAS wrote:

Mellsblue wrote:

FKAS wrote:I don't understand the need for a 4G pitch. You can get hybrid pitches where the grass and soil is supported so doesn't cut up. I played on one a few years ago that a local sports club had managed to get through a community grant. Was used all weekend through winter by rugby clubs and foot all clubs. I played there after a week of constant rain, very wet but not very muddy. Great surface.

For someone with dodgy knees I loved it. Meant quite a bit of running rugby was played mid winter as well which didn't tend to be the case at that club before the change in surface.

Sadly, a lot of the U.K. sees a lot more rain than sunny Leicestershire.
Also, the paper I posted shows hybrid pitches also increase injury… which was a shock to me.

Yeah the not muddy was a surprise. Previously playing at that club you'd be ankle deep in mid winter. If Leicestershire is sunny then I'm surprised the rest of the country isn't under water. My playing recollections are pretty heavy with mud bath games. I did also play games in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire with similar weather conditions.

Interesting that hybrid pitches have bad outcomes in the paper, I suppose there's hybrid pitches of wildly varying quality depending on age, upkeep and level technological sophistication.

I moved from Nottinghamshire to North Yorkshire a few years ago and the state of the pitches oop here in winter are a different level to those I’ve experienced in the Midlands.