Rassie Erasmus happy 4G pitch won’t hand advantage to Glasgow

Munster director of rugby Rassie Erasmus is satisfied that the synthetic 4G pitch at Scotstoun will not make any appreciable difference in favour of Glasgow Warriors when the sides clash in tomorrow’s all-important European Champions Cup game at Scotstoun.

In fact, with the weather forecast anything but favourable, Erasmus is happy that the game will still take place on a dry, firm surface which did little harm to his side when they eked out a late 16-15 PRO12 victory at the same venue on December 2.

On that occasion, a late drop goal by Ian Keatley was the difference with all indications that the outcome will be just as close this time round.

“To be honest, I’m a little bit embarrassed that I’ve never been part of a team, prior to that game, that has played on one of those pitches,” says Erasmus.

“That was my first time so I was also thinking about what was different. Obviously, we’ve trained on the pitch here [in UL], but to be honest there’s nothing different.

“There’s a little bit of a myth that you can get more injuries but I don’t know if you do or not.

“We didn’t get them when we were there last time. I just think the way they play is highly paced and you can prepare accordingly knowing you’re going to play on a pitch like that. It’s not like you’re going to get mud or get wet because it’s a nice, hard pitch even when it’s raining.

“In one way it suits us because we enjoy playing that way. I can’t really say what difference it will make. The fullback and fly-halves on their side will be faster but I still think it’s nice to know what you’re going to be confronted with.

“It’s nice not to have mud and stuff like that but then they are so used to it and play so well there.”

While agreeing that “it’s an exciting fixture to be part of and really interesting to see how it pans out”, Erasmus did allow that “I’m just worried that it really looks like it’s going to be rain and maybe snow and I’m not sure how that affects a pitch like that.”