Winter Sports - Rugby World Cup “Even though the fixtures were set, there
was still a contingency for anything that might affect turf quality, such as bad weather, which meant that the games could be delayed or even rescheduled.” “So, while we were still implementing
long-standing practices for the World Cup, I’m not going to deny that we didn’t up our game, because we were in the spotlight, in front of the world.” “Because it had been a wet summer, for
instance, we had to apply more fertiliser because it got washed away. We fertilised on a programme of six to eight weeks and upped the iron levels to ensure the turf looked healthy.” “We used a Wiedenmann Terra Spike for deep spiking and aeration and left the holes open, aiming to do this every two weeks during the season.” “One thing we had to watch out for was
leaf spot, which we had last year. We just had to keep an eye on it, and if the need arose, treat with Bayer’s Interface fungicide.” says Graeme.
Selection process
Kingsholm submitted an application to be considered as a World Cup host four years ago. “We knew the pitch was big enough, the stadium had enough capacity and that we could cater for the hospitality required. It has enough boxes, has television access and we have international sized changing rooms.” “The closer we got to the tournament,
they sent over more criteria which meant we had to make a number of changes to the stadium and pitch. During 2015, a representative working on behalf of the World Cup came to test that the pitch and turf met their criteria,” adds Graeme.
Structural changes
The turf team at Kingsholm had to make some big changes to the pitch to ensure that it was fit to showcase to the world’s leading rugby players… and a television audience of millions from around the globe. Graeme’s brother, Dave Balmer, the
Stadium Manager at Kingsholm, explains that that these changes were huge, but that they
were willing to make them for the opportunity to host the tournament. “We had new international goalposts
installed to replace the old posts made in 1964 by a local engineering firm Field and Platt. It was sad because that was a piece of history. But the great thing is that these were re-erected in the fanzone area, in Gloucester Quays, next to the big screen.” “The new posts are impressive, because
they can be folded down to enable us to clean and paint them easily, and will help when we put the dome in during the colder winter months to protect against frost.” As well as changing the posts, they had to
install fifty new lights into the stadium. This brought the total up to 150, all to help television presentation. “We’ve also had to reduce the size of the
pitch from 97 x 70 metres, with a seven and a half metre in-goal, to 95 x 68 metres and in-goals that are six metres deep.” “After the World Cup it will go out to 70
metres wide, and we will put the in-goals back to seven metres, but the length will
“
Even though the fixtures were set, there was still a contingency for anything that might affect turf quality, such as bad weather, which meant that the games could be delayed or even rescheduled
The Japan squad in training ahead of their match against Scotland
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