Johnny McNicholl has called for rugby to ban artificial pitches as the Scarlets soothe their wounds ahead of the weekend’s Guinness Pro 14 final in Dublin.
The New Zealander was one of several players left with cuts, burns and blisters following their semi-final win over Glasgow on the plastic surface at Scotstoun.
The injuries follow three recent significant career-threatening injuries suffered on artificial pitches at Glasgow, Saracens and Cardiff Blues:
- In the same Scarlets game against Glasgow, the region’s back row forward and Scotland captain, John Barclay, ruptured an achilles’ tendon that will keep him out for six months.
- The following day the Wasps flanker Jack Willis, who had just been called into the England squad, ruptured ligaments in his right knee on Saracens’ artificial pitch and will be out of action for up to a year.
- Last month the Pau back-row Steffon Armitage ruptured an achilles’ tendon during the European Challenge Cup semi-final defeat at Cardiff Blues and is unlikely to play again this year.
The impact of playing on the artificial surface last Friday forced head coach Wayne Pivac to cancel training on Monday and not every player was able to train on Tuesday ahead of the clash with Leinster,
“It was not a nice pitch to play on,” said Scarlets wing McNicholl after his first game back since February. “I’ve got a dozen blisters and cuts all over me.
“It has been difficult to sleep with the sheets sticking on me. I remember going down on the ball and I got a massive burn on my backside, a bit like a carpet burn.
“I told the trainer at the time that these pitches should be illegal – they are high risk for injury. We haven’t been able to train because of the burns.
“That surface can be good in terms of footwork, but as soon as you hit the deck it can really hurt your joints. I prefer not to play on them.”
The Scarlets lost Barclay with a severed achilles in the first half before going on to win 28-13 to reach the final for the second season in a row. He will miss the final, but Pivac is hoping that Leigh Halfpenny will come through a fitness test on Thursday to put him in the running for a return in Dublin.
“Leigh has a chance of playing this weekend and he’s done very well with his hamstring injury. We will leave the final call until Thursday’s training session,” said Pivac.
“We weren’t able to train yesterday because of all the blisters and bad burns we picked up in the semi-final in Glasgow. We haven’t done any rugby work on the field because of the burns and there will be a lot who won’t train again today.
“I’m not sure how other teams have found that pitch, but we have had a lot of bad burns, grazing and blisters. We’ve got a very good medical team and I’m sure the boys will heal up for the final, but it is just frustrating that we haven’t been able to train in the early part of the week.
“We’ve got to play on these pitches, and you’ve just got to accept it, but I am not a fan of them.”
Glasgow said they were “entirely happy” with the pitch at Scotstoun Stadium, which was installed in 2016 and was fully compliant with the performance specification of World Rugby, which has held a World Series sevens event at the ground.
Glasgow and the Blues are the two teams in the Pro14 who have artificial pitches while in the Premiership Saracens, Newcastle and Worcester have them. Gloucester intended joining them next season but after taking advice from their players, the club is spending £1m on a surface that will be a hybrid of grass and artificial grass fibres.
