Irish firm banking on success of Sarries’ artificial pitch test

An Irish company is leading a rugby revolution that could see a number of high-profile stadia install artificial pitches within the next five years.

Support in Sport (SIS) have laid surfaces at Old Trafford, the Nou Camp, the Bernabeu and they have now installed rugby’s first artificial pitch at Saracens’ new Allianz Park arena.

The stadium will officially open when Saracens host Cardiff Blues on Sunday and the North London club are hoping to stage their Heineken Cup quarter-final against Ulster at their new home in April.

And if the pitch is a success, SIS could be in for a huge windfall as Saracens chief executive Ed Griffiths believes almost every major club and international venue would consider installing the rubber-based surface.

First on that list is likely to be the Millennium Stadium, with SIS chief executive George Mullan admitting he has opened negotiations with the Welsh Rugby Union.

“We have spoken to the Millennium Stadium as, I suspect, have most of our competitors,” said Mullan, on visit to Sarries’ new home yesterday.

“It is a high-profile stadium and we know it well as we did the grass pitch for them many years ago. I think they want to see how it goes at Saracens over a season or so to see how it plays.

“We’d be delighted if other clubs wanted to go the same way and build artificial pitches. We are very confident this will work.

“We expect the games played on this surface to be faster, and there should be less knock-ons as there will be less mud on the ball. The main issue is player safety, but we do not anticipate any problems there.”

The primary issue with the pitch is likely to concern front rows, with long studs proving too solid a grounding in the turf — meaning scrums may not move as much as on grass. But SIS and Saracens are confident if front rows wear studs of less than 12mm, the problem can be avoided. The bounce of the ball is certainly true, even after this weekend’s heavy snow.