Winter Sports - Rugby Union “
The first few cuts were done with the pedestrian rotary mowers, cutting two or three times a week until the grass plant had established ready for cutting with the heavier cylinder mowers
End of season renovations were completed by Hewitt Sportsturf
and independent agronomists, Professional Sportsturf Design, to oversee the tournament playing surfaces and carry out pitch testing in the run-up to the tournament. In the meantime, it has been business as usual, with the end of season renovation completed as quickly as possible after the season. Hewitt Sportsturf from Leicester were called in to clean off the old pitch and expose the Desso fibres, followed by verti- draining and topdressing with 90 tonnes of sand.
Large holes were dug, taking care not to damage any underground services
Hewitt’s were then tasked with installing the sockets for the rugby posts. This was quite a technical undertaking, since they had to ensure they did not permanently damage any of the undersoil heating pipes. It was a case of digging a large hole, cutting off a number of pipes, setting up the position of the sockets, concreting them in and then reconnecting the pipes. Around four cubic metres of concrete were used to set both pairs of sockets. Once the sockets had set, it was a case of
putting back around 150mm depth of rootzone material above the concrete. Paul then ‘ProCore’d’ the pitch in three directions, brushed and then reseeded with Johnsons Premier Pitch. Pitch length for the World Cup games is
Undersoil heating pipes were capped to avoid permanent damage
set at 95 metres, goal line to goal line. In accordance with RFU ruling, the grassed run- off to the dead ball will be extended to six metres to meet World Cup stipulations. The non-playing synthetic area surrounding the pitch will also have to be modified and upgraded to meet IRB Regulation 22 performance standards. Again, Hewitts will be tasked with doing this work. Once the seed had germinated, it was a
case of getting the grass to tiller. The first few cuts were done with the pedestrian rotary mowers, cutting two or three times a week until the grass plant had established ready for cutting with the heavier cylinder mowers. A robust fertiliser programme, using both granular and liquid formulations, was put into place to help promote good rooting depth and vigour.
It is surprising how quickly these pitches
respond, usually after just six weeks the pitch is ready for play. As for heights of cut, Paul tends to keep between 22mm-26mm during the playing season, however, World Cup England want all pitches to be maintained at around 30mm during the tournament. Paul and his team will be kept very busy
leading up to the two matches; they have a Premier League home match against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday 19th
Around four cubic metres of concrete were used to set both pairs of sockets
92 I PC AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015
3G pitch surrounds will need to meet IRB Regulation 22 performance standards
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164