If there is an issue with cutting in elbows and knees it should be raised so in the least players can wear long sleeved sports gear.

If this Is the case this pitch won't lost long. Nothing wrong with good old grass.

Think bike leathers would be better

yes a rugby ball bounces but it has to be a true bounce not like the one that we saw last night.

if you think the players had a few grazes then fine but in a months time when the widnes team are missing a few players because of infection to burns on there knees and elbows maybe the opinions of a few may change because thats what the players will suffer from,the i pitch was supposed to not have any problems but on the evidence of 1 game suggests that its not an ideal surface for rugby but time will tell.

The IPitch hasn't any problems but it is not suitable really for Rugby.

I think cricket pads with high ankle boots may do the job.

Let's see the ipitch burn through those bad boys

I don`t know how much artificial pitches have changed since the `80s when there were a few in the wendyball league but if they haven`t improved the players have my sympathy this morning. I played on Oldham Athletic`s plastic pitch many moons ago, to counter the high bounce the pitch was sanded and sliding on it was tantamount to sliding on sandpaper. My knees, elbows and the palms off my hands were sore for days afterwards and took about 3 weeks to heal properly. Also in those days many Oldham players suffered knee & ankle joint injuries, which they put down to lack of give in the pitch. If things haven`t improved since those days then far from being to Widnes` advantage I can see it being somewhat of a handicap, at least we won`t have to worry about it for the rest of this season, barring a CC game.

We seemed to pick up a few injuries last night, they said before the game that dead legs could be caused by the pitch

Biggest issue for me seemed that players appeared to be very unsure of their footing at times ? will be interesting to see the reaction if some of the so called "star" players from the top 4 clubs start picking up injuries on that surface.Looks to have potential for serious ligament damage was my first impression.Hope this is not the case and players get used to it as season goes on,same pitch for both sides and obviously Widnes will have a lot more confidence in the surface than away teams on the first visit.Be interesting to see reactions as season progresses.Above all else though well done Wakey,great start and lets keep thhe momentum going !!

I’m glad we’ve got this one out of the way, it’ll be interesting when some of the ‘Big Boys’ go to town complaining of similar grazing. Although looking at the number of high shots, I bet there’s one or two with facial damage, never mind cut knees.

When the players were trying to turn and go in the opposite direction, it almost looked like slow motion. It was noticeable for their first try when Mathers turned to knock the ball dead, the disallowed Winterstein try when Isaac John turned to try and reach the ball and also the disallowed try when Ah Van held our player back. All players involved looked like they had to fully stop before turning and running again.

On the subject of grazed knees and elbows, players are going to have to wear skins or under armour. Either that or Vaseline up like Jim Leighton!

Awful surfaces to play on!

In all the years I've played sport I've played on that kind of surface only once. I grazed/burned my knee and ankle and it ended up with getting a severe infection and my ankle swelling to the size of a tennis ball!!

I've played hundreds and hundreds of times on grass pitches, both hard in winter and summer and never had anything like, so I don't buy into the argument of getting similar cuts and grazes on grass pitches aswell.

Just happy it's out of the way for us and a great performance and very positive start to the season!!

Let's see what the young lads think of it after they play on today, there's lots of banter between some of them and the senior guys on what to wear