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'Pitch looks horrendous' - Cape Town Stadium surface slammed
By Ian Cameron
The less than ideal playing surface at Cape Town Stadium for the Springboks versus Wales decider was widely criticised on social media today.
A tired-looking Wales were beaten 30-14 by Jacques Nienaber's South Africa in the third Test, a result which saw them lose the three-match series 2-1.
The spectacle wasn't helped by the playing surface at the stadium located in Green Point, with players frequently losing their footing on the turf as it gave way beneath them.
The slippery playing surface made running treacherous for the two teams. As it happened, both sides losing players to injuries. South African winger Cheslin Kolbe and Wales flanker Dan Lydiate were both forced off.
In fact there were concerns coming into the match about what the state of the pitch would be given the URC Final that was held there in June also suffered from the same affliction.
“We haven’t played a game there in about three to four weeks, so I am not 100 percent sure what the surface looks like at the moment,” South African prop Steven Kitshoff warned before the game. “With the URC [Final] it was a bit slippery and certain areas of the field were not in great shape but we were promised by the groundskeepers that they would fix the surface and hopefully it holds up very nicely this weekend.”
The playing surface was a talking point on social media throughout the game.
Cindy Poluta wrote: "Players literally replanting the grass after every scrum. SHOCKING pitch".
"Re-lay the surface. The pitch can’t tear up from a step by George North of all people. If you can’t then sorry but don’t host any games there," wrote one miffed Twitter account.
"Beautiful stadium, once again piss poor playing surface!," wrote one Welsh fan.
"Could be the first test match ever abandoned due to the pitch. Joke of a surface," wrote another.
"This pitch looks horrendous to play on!! Players slipping all over the place!!" bemoaned another irked Welshmen.
One fan likened it to a sweet dish. "This pitch is like the skin on a custard".
Others saw a potential conspiracy in the state of the pitch, suggesting it played to the host's advantage. Dominic Bate wrote: 'Wouldn’t be surprised if South Africa purposely prepared the pitch like this in order to make running rugby more difficult and aid their forward dominated game.'
A duel use stadium, the owners may have to look at better managing the pitch in the new season.
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Latest Comments
Think it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
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