From flooded to high and dry
Storms, flooding and severe weather meant that a number of pitches were waterlogged recently. The RFU’s investment in artificial grass pitches (AGPs) saw a number of clubs able to play games by moving their matches from rain-sodden grass pitches to the Rugby 365 artificial grass.
On one recent weekend alone, with 1132 matches already booked on 27 artificial grass pitches, a further ten were relocated to them and training made available throughout the previous week. Throughout winter there are often 130+ bookings a weekend for AGPs.
One game moved to an AGP recently was Bath v Richmond in their Women’s Championship South 1 league, which was played on Chippenham RFC’s Rugby 365 AGP.
Bath reported: “The AGP was great, and Chippenham were excellent hosts. It was arranged for us at such short notice, and we'll be sure to ask again should we need an alternative venue.”
Simon Hughes, RFU National Facilities Operations Manager said: “We have been working with clubs to ensure that they know the AGPs are there when they need them. With the extreme rainfall we have experienced recently, the AGP pitches have really come into their own, preventing many postponements and protecting club pitches from overuse when the ground is saturated.”
Volunteers and fire brigade help
Amidst the flooding, volunteers literally waded in to help when Keswick RFC was badly flooded and made sure a social event for the local community went ahead. Martin Relph, chairman, said: "Our pitch is on a flood plain and there’s a bund between the pitches and the clubhouse. When the water level in the lake rises, it floods the pitches and the land around the clubhouse, and it also comes up through the clubhouse floor.
"The pitches were covered by about two or three feet of water, and it started coming into the clubhouse on Thursday morning. The fire brigade pumped around the clubhouse, and onto the pitches which helped keep the water level low enough for us to be able to get rid of most of the water in the clubhouse and we had a heater going to dry stuff off. It’s a small community in Keswick and players available locally came down. A lot of people were off work because roads were closed. So, we had enough people to deal with it properly. We had good help from supporters, good help from general club members and of course, the fire brigade."
Newark RFC’s facilities chair David Pick was on BBC East Midlands news and interviewed by BBC Radio Nottingham amidst the worst of the flooding, with between 600 to 750mm of flood water over the pitches. The pitches generally recover in two to three weeks and a first team match took place two weeks after the flooding.
“We know what to expect and as the noise about flooding got louder our well-thought-out plan to protect what we have sprang in to action. We moved all the gear that would get ruined by the floods or would float away - so post protectors, bins, cones, corner flags and tackle bags were all moved. We took the motor off the lift and raised the cage and we also put the new first aid cabin up on its extendable legs. This was done Saturday morning, the seconds played at home and by 6pm the police asked us to leave the clubhouse and they shut the road. Thankfully, the floods go as quickly as they come and in 48 hours on Tuesdays and Wednesday the waters went back in the riverbanks and we had some minor puddles by Friday and the weekend.”
In partnership with the Grounds Management Association, the RFU now has four full time pitch advisors who can visit clubs and provide support and guidance to help improve pitches and reduce the number of games lost to poor weather. Find more information and arrange a visit here.
Find more information about booking an AGP click here.
