It'll look like WWE Royal Rumble next week with all the knee and elbow pads on show

Will the Widnes players last the season with their kneecaps intact?

Maybe it was your club at fault, look at the success he had at Saints. Can't polish a turd comes to mind. It's narrow minded people like yourself who caused this man unreasonable and unacceptable stress and unhappiness, as a responsible adult I would have expected better. How would you like to be bullied into mental health issues by 6,000 people? Although this is Salford, 6000 might be generous.

Maybe you're son has a different variation at his school. I have played on this exact type of pitch and was not allowed to wear studs.

You say that, but I reckon the pitch has cost Widnes two tries tonight. On a normal pitch the ball would have carried to the corner for Ah Van to score and then again quite near the end when Marsh chipped over.

I have to agree that it did speed the game up and make it much better, so on that score it gets the thumbs up. It might just be me being soft, nowt new there then, but as I've already said when I played on the one at Leigh East I was covered in grazes that would stick to my jeans when enjoying a pint afterwards. Not the most comfortable I've ever been I must admit.

Seem's as though the Wakey weren't too keen on it either as they've reported it to the match commissionaire although what good that's going to do I don't know.

I thought he was talking about studs not digging in the same way they would with grass/soil, rather than there being no studs.

For me I thought it went well in terms of the speed and quality of the game. Much better than the Crusaders-Leeds opener from a couple of years ago. As for the elbow/knee burns, I don't know if there were more than you'd get off a dry pitch in summer. It's not as though no-one ever gets grass burns, and it's much better than breaking your ankle in a divot hole. It'd be a shame if they had to lose the pitch, as it's such a key part of Widnes' revenue generation from the stadium.

Nothing wrong with the way the pitch plays, rugby balls bounce randomly no matter what the surface, the only issue is the burns,grazes to knees and elbows , and ultimatley it is Widnes who will bear the brunt of that playing on it every other week, it is they who will have the problem

Selling plasma

I must say I did notice a lot of bloody elbows. I don't whether anyone else picked up on this?

prehaps bounce is misleading its the roll and carry of the ball which seems different to a grass pitch. the ball seemed to hold up like it would on a sodden pitch. the widnes no try when ah van pulled back was a good example, the wakey cover got caught out by the strange movement of the ball

prehaps bounce is misleading its the roll and carry of the ball which seems different to a grass pitch. the ball seemed to hold up like it would on a sodden pitch. the widnes no try when ah van pulled back was a good example, the wakey cover got caught out by the strange movement of the ball

true but if anyone is going to get accustomed to this it will be widnes. I can see them anticipating tjis type of ball movement as the season moves on

With regards to the bounce of the ball, it can differ from how a ball would normally bounce on grass. As the pitch is made up of little black rubber pellets if a build up occurs of these it can alter the way the ball bounces. However, the same can be said for divots in grass so I think it's all the same in the end.

Exactly , the length of the grass, dry or wet , hot or cold, sand on the pitch, there are countless differences to pitches that clubs play at, all of them affected by weather conditions and time of year, the Wides pitch will be the most consistent one in the league.

It is in fact, Widnes who will have the biggest problem, they will have the issues of burns,cuts and having to adjust to their pitch every other week, other clubs will only be affected once per year

With regard to the burns and scrapes on the arms, you get this on grass pitches in the summer if they are not watered.

For me the surface made the game fast and encouraged good football.
For the spectator and TV viewer it also kept shirts clean. The pitch markings were also very clear.
The ball does bounce slightly differently compared to grass, however with grass the bounce varies depending on the weather. Also the amount the ball slips varies greatly on grass depending on if its raining or dry. It will be interesting to see if this happens with the IPITCH
Another thing that was different was the players inability to stop quickly. This was pronounced as a negative, but in reality it means players were stopping and changing direction more naturally. Studs in grass allow you to stop and step unnaturally quickly. What this does is put unnecessary pressure on the joints. Our bodies are not designed to stop on a sixpence.
You also dont get ruts on the IPITCH, so there should be fewer instances of players turning their ankles.


Now i dont for a minute think it is better than the best grass pitches for overall quality of play, however most RL clubs dont have the money to afford such pitches. In those circumstance i think the IPITCH may make a suitable lower cost alternative.
I certainly think Headingley with its sandpit/ mudbath should look at investing in one, either that or invest money in a proper grass pitch.

Scott Moore and Richie Mathers appear to be the first players involved from tonight to be complaining on Twitter about the i-pitch.