Tag Archive for: Rugby

Rugby Club Devastated By Pitch Fire

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Rugby Club Devastated By Pitch Fire: A Swansea rugby club’s bosses are “devastated” after one of their pitches was set alight in a suspected arson.

The second pitch belonging to Vardre RFC, based in Clydach, was badly burnt during the fire on Sunday.

South Wales Police are investigating the fire after Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue service were called at about 13:30 BST.

The club spends up to £5,000 a year over the summer to fertilise and reseed the pitches.

“We are worried that it will affect our season and prevent players from all ages enjoying the sports they love,” the committee said.

By the time fire crews arrived, the committee said the pitch was “completely burnt.”

“We are extremely proud of the quality of our pitches,” a spokesman said.

“These facilities are used by the mini, junior, youth and senior section of not only Vardre RFC, but Clydach FC as well.

“The second team pitch is also our only floodlit pitch so is vitally important in the season when the evenings are darker, and we require the floodlighting to train.

“It’s completely heartbreaking and frustrating when so many good people volunteer their time and effort to improve facilities and provisions for the local community and a mindless, selfish few continually vandalise the Vardre RFC playing facilities.

“Currently, we are unsure how long and how much it will cost to get the pitch back to its original state.”

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Rugby Groundsmen Connected

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Rugby Groundsmen Connected: As a past player, coach and club groundsman, I am only too aware of the importance of having a decent surface to play on, Having said that, there are still many rugby clubs that for one reason or other fail to invest the appropriate time, resources and money in keeping their pitches in a fit for purpose state.

Far too often, this lack of investment ends up with the pitches over time becoming unplayable during wet weather conditions and needing a fair amount of work to bring them back to an acceptable condition.

Rugby Groundsmen Connected

Most clubs rely heavily on the goodwill of ex-players and members to help with the maintenance of their pitches. However, they can only achieve this if they have the right equipment and resources made available coupled with the relevant knowledge to undertake the maintenance of these pitches.

A recent meeting with Ted Mitchell, RFU Club Facilities Technical Manager and Keith Kent, Head Groundsman at Twickenham Stadium enlightened me on the work the RFU have being doing to support rugby clubs who need advice and help with managing their facilities and pitches and their popular Rugby Groundsman Connected scheme is certainly making a difference.

Rugby Groundsmen Connected (RGC) is the RFU’s easy access, two-way communication network between the RFU and rugby union groundsmen. It is the main communication channel for the RFU to provide information and advice to groundsmen and also has special offers and exclusive benefits for members. Everything the RFU does related to pitch maintenance will now come under the banner of Rugby Groundsmen Connected. Groundsmen Connected is for anybody that has any involvement in the upkeep of rugby pitches; complete novice to Premiership groundsmen. Anyone can register to join RGC at no cost. Registration is by email to groundsmenconnected@rfu.com. Once signed up they will receive regular communications with advice, information and the opportunity to ask questions.

RGC now has well over 1,000 groundsmen registered and Keith has been very supportive of the scheme and has himself visited many clubs up and down the country to pass on his advice. To help recognise the good work being done by these dedicated volunteers the RFU arranged a groundsman’s ‘Money Can’t Buy’ experience sponsored by the Mitsubishi Motors Volunteer Recognition Programme.

I, along with five other club volunteer groundsmen; Adrian Robertshaw (Ross On Wye RFC), Julian Roberts (Devizes RFC), Nigel Mortimore (Topsham RFC,) Colin Hudson (Lutterworth RFC) and John Upton (Volunteer Pitch Advisor), were given a tour of the stadium and a chance to meet up with Keith and his two trusted assistants, Ian and Andy, who spent the day explaining the work they do to keep the hallowed turf at Twickenham in tip top condition.

Rugby Groundsmen Connected

After an interesting and informative tour of the stadium that included the chance to sit in the royal box, visit the changing rooms and other executive boxes, we were then given opportunity to go down onto the pitch and try out some of the machinery they use.

Keith was keen to demonstrate the wealth of equipment available to help maintain rugby pitches to a high standard.  On show was a range of cylinder mowers, rotary mowers, aeration equipment, and compact tractors fitted with Quadraplay units, outfield spikers and slitters.

Rugby Groundsmen Connected

All in all a great day and one we all will not forget; very educational and a great way to honour the work of these dedicated club volunteers. I personally enjoyed the day immensely, which was topped with the news that my application to become a Volunteer Pitch Advisor for the RFU, working across the North Midlands area, had been accepted.

Rugby Groundsmen Connected

For me this is a very special opportunity to work with the RFU to deliver one of their key initiatives of their Rugby Groundsmen Connected programme. I am looking forward to visiting many of the clubs I played for and against during my playing days.  These clubs have been the cornerstones of sport in the community for many years and this new role is to ensure they continue to thrive and provide decent playing surfaces for the next generation of rugby players.

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Rugby Players Suffer 3G Burns

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Rugby Players Suffer 3G Burns: The Scarlets have seen their training plans hindered ahead of Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 final against Leinster as a number of their players are nursing nasty burns and blisters after the semi-final victory over Glasgow on Scotstoun’s artificial surface.

Head coach Wayne Pivac has revealed he had to cancel training yesterday and a number of his players won’t be risked today because of the wounds they suffered during the 28-13 victory.

“There are a lot of bad burns,” said Pivac.

“No-one trained yesterday in terms of any rugby work on the field and there will be some who won’t train today which is unfortunate, but we will have a full training session on Thursday.

“It’s things that won’t stop them playing, but it’s not ideal.”

Pivac added: “We would always do a bit of a flush (training run) on a Monday, especially after a Friday game; but the main thing is to make the burns heals up. To run around and knock the skin off again is not the ideal situation.”

It is not the first time that artificial surfaces have come under the spotlight.

Pontypridd’s Sardis Road surface was investigated last season after Merthyr players complained of burns and cuts.

Pivac himself has also raised concerns about injuries suffered by his players at the Arms Park.

Asked to comment specifically on the Scotstoun pitch, he said: “It was very bad on the weekend. It was very dry.

“I am not sure what other teams have had, we had got a lot of burns, a lot of bad grazing and blisters. It was very firm.

“These things will heal up, but it is just frustrating at the early part of the week.

“It is what it is, you have got to play on them and you have got to accept, it but I am not a fan.”

Both Wales international Steff Evans and Kiwi full-back Johnny McNicholl spoke to the media at today’s press conference at Parc y Scarlets and both had nasty cuts and grazes to their arms and legs.

McNicholl said: “I have got a dozen of them. It has not been a couple of nice nights sticking to the sheets.

“It is not a nice pitch to play on.

“Under foot it is good when you are doing footwork. As soon as you hit the deck it affects your joints as well.

“I would prefer not to play on them. I remember going down on the deck for the ball and I got this massive grass burn on my backside.

“It was like a carpet burn. I said to the trainer straight after with a few swear words that I felt this pitch should be illegal.

“I don’t like playing on them because they are high risk for injury.

“I could not train yesterday because of the burns and my feet were numb.

“This is the only surface I have played on so I can’t judge anyone.

“I think they would be pretty similar especially on a dry day. It heats up and it is like carpet.

“You are not meant to slide and I did a few times. It was horrible.”

Evans added: “Obviously we didn’t train yesterday because a lot of players had burns and it is going to be tough one today again.

“These are going to be stuck with me for a while, it is a tough field that 4G.

“It was just really dry.

“It wasn’t soft, it was a hard ground, compared to the Arms Park and Saracens it was totally different.

“The weather didn’t help, it was like playing on carpet, it was shocking.

“It’s blisters with a bit of pus coming out. You are waking up in bed and the sheets are stuck to your leg about seven times a night. It is not great, you have just got to crack on.

“But you can’t concentrate on the burns, there is something more important to look forward to this weekend.”

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Kubota’s Rugby Partnership

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Kubota’s Rugby Partnership: Kubota UK have announced that they are extending their elite sponsorship of Aviva Premiership club Northampton Saints until 2020.

The market leading machinery manufacturer and supplier of world-renowned Kubota engines joined forces with Saints back in 2015, the company’s first ever sponsorship with a top flight sports team.  Based on the success of the partnership, Kubota is looking forward to continuing its support for the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons.

Kubota's Rugby Partnership

Dave Roberts, Kubota UK’s Managing Director, said: “ Signing a new deal with Northampton Saints was an easy decision for us. Over the past 3 years that we have been involved with the club, it has proved itself to be an outstanding partner, delivering fantastic exposure for our brand, a high quality match day experience and, of course, a great way to showcase our products. Partnering with Saints aligns perfectly with our drive for excellence, and the desire to lead our respective fields. We’re delighted to be continuing to build on that over the next few years.”

As part of the deal, Kubota provides some of its industry leading groundcare solutions to help the Franklin’s Gardens Ground Staff maintain its pitches to the highest standards in the Aviva Premiership.

Mark Darbon, Saints CEO, is thrilled to see the relationship between the two organisations blossom.  He commented: “This is a partnership in the truest sense of the word.  Kubota UK has been a great asset to the club in recent years and we are delighted to have extended our partnership with them.

“At Saints, we set out to have the highest standards in every area of our organisation. This includes how we maintain our stadium pitch – one of only three natural grass pitches in the league – as well as our training facilities. Having the highest quality training and playing surfaces is vital in allowing the team to perform.

“By continuing our work with Kubota, we are helping build the best platform to realise our ambitions, and we are looking forward to working closely with the machinery manufacturer over the next two years.”

The elite sponsorship package also means Kubota receive a suite of commercial rights, from prime brand positioning on the back of the Saints playing shorts for all matches, to the Kubota logo featuring prominently in the stadium including on the big screen, on the perimeter advertising boards around the ground and in the matchday programme and matchday tickets.  The sponsorship also includes corporate hospitality and player appearances for Kubota events.

Karen Tipping, Kubota UK’s Marketing Manager, concluded: “Rugby union has a really strong appeal with our dealer and end-user customers.  As Saints are one of the leading professional rugby clubs in Europe, our sponsorship gives us the opportunity to extend the reach of the Kubota brand as well as further strengthen our relationships with our dealer and end-user customers.”

For more information on Kubota UK call 01844 268000 or visit www.kubota.co.uk.

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Rugby Groundsman Honoured

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Rugby Groundsman Honoured: The great Bard of Welsh rugby, Max Boyce, was recently honoured at the Rugby Union Writers’ Club in London for his services to rugby.

The Glynneath RFC president joined Owen Farrell, Doddie Weir and Wharfedale RFC veteran Michael Harrison in being singled out in front of an audience that included World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont, CEO Brett Gosper, WRU chairman Gareth Davies and CEO Martyn Phillips and British & Irish Lions legends Sir Ian McGeechan and Roger Uttley.


Farrell beat off the challenges of fellow Lions Maro Itoje, Sam Warburton and Jonathan Davies, as well as Exeter coach Rob Baxter, to carry off the RUWC Pat Marshall award for the rugby personality of the year. Ex-Scotland and Lions lock Weir, currently battling Motor Neurone Disease, won the RUWC Special Award, while Boyce and Harrison picked up tankards for their ‘Services to Rugby’.

Harrison played 655 games for Wharfedale and has spent 40 years on the club committee. Boyce can claim 30 years as president at Glynneath and has been the club groundsman for the past dozen or more years. He recently told Peter Jackson, of the Rugby Paper, about his life-long association with his home town team.

”I played a bit at scrum half for the youth team. I was very small and not very good. I also played at openside. Full of heart but not much pace,” recalled Max, of an era when Glynneath were the powerhouse in second class rugby in Wales and Bas Thomas’ ‘Invincibles’ were in the process of reeling off 55 consecutive wins.

A young Dai Morris was learning his trade at the club at the time and while a young Max dreamt of playing in the 1st XV, he is the first to admit he didn’t get very close. ”I didn’t get very close to a first team game, in fact, I was a long, long way away!”

But, as Peter Jackson put it: “There would be no limit to his talent in other directions as a troubadour par excellence with the gold discs and million album sales to prove it. Unable to change the shape of Welsh rugby, he changed the sound instead with his Hymns and Arias brought to a whole new continental audience by the success of the Wales football team at the Euros in France last summer.

“Unlike his constricted playing days, there has never been any limit on Boyce the entertainer, nor on his ability to sharpen new skills in the unlikeliest spheres of expertise. As well as Boyce the bit-part player, miner, musician, comedian, lyricist and perceptive recorder of social history in song, another string has to be added to a very long bow: Boyce the Agronomist.

“His knowledge of grass passes all understanding. His role of honorary groundsman makes him arguably the ultimate one-club man, not that Boyce himself would dare lay claim to such a title. But how many at his age – 74 earlier this season – undertake a job which entails rolled up sleeves and muddied hands?

“Most settle for the less perspiring role as presidential figurehead. The Bard combines his club presidency with the challenging position of groundsman, tackling it with an enthusiasm generated by a lifelong passion for Glynneath and its rugby club.

Max explained where his ‘green fingers’ came from. “A long time ago when I was captain of the local golf club, the committee decided to dig up six greens. I got in touch with the British Turf people and their head agronomist. I didn’t know then what an agronomist was.

“I applied their professional advice to what little knowledge I had at the time to the rugby pitch. It was in a dire state, full of weeds and terrible drainage problems. Often the bottom 20 yards would be under a foot of water.
“Everyone piled in, all twelve of us from all walks of life in a great team effort. We’ve been looking after it now for 20 years. It’s my little hobby and I have to say the standard of pitches in the Championship is pretty good – but not as good as ours. It’s in great nick.”

So, for once, it was Max Boyce the Welsh rugby devotee, rather than Max the great entertainer, who was rewarded for efforts this week. He followed in the footsteps of Treorchy RFC stalwart Bryan James, who was honoured in a similar fashion last year, and received his award from Wale and Lions assistant coach Rob Howley.

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