Coaches Steve Tandy and Kingsley Jones clashed over the safety of Rodney Parade after the Ospreys’ grim 10-0 victory over the Newport Gwent Dragons.
Ospreys coach Tandy claimed the waterlogged pitch was not simply unplayable, but was a risk to players, but his Dragons counterpart Jones hit back and said: “I don’t think there’s ever been a case of a player drowning on a rugby field.”
According to Tandy, however, it is not just the inability of the Newport ground to absorb rain that makes it so treacherous. It is the number of holes on the surface which he claims make it a danger.
Tandy said: “I thought it was unplayable. There was standing water on it, they were opening up drains, and there were a lot of pot holes.
“I was really concerned about players’ safety.
“We’re satisfied to get the win. Conditions were horrific. We had concerns and were pretty unhappy with the state of the field.
“It doesn’t make a difference to us if there’s water but there were definitely concerns for players’ safety. We weren’t particularly happy [the game went ahead].
“We found a way to win. It was only 10-0 but I think it was relatively comfortable.”
As a spectacle and TV showcase for fans and potential sponsors, the match was a dinosaur. Anyone tuning in halfway through would have thought it was a YouTube clip of a game from the 1970s.
It was so abysmal that fans didn’t boo at the boring kick-fest between the sides. Instead, they mocked it with feigned excitement. For a professional sport, trying to grow its audience, that’s as bad as it gets.
On referee Ian Davies’ decision to allow the game to be played, Jones said: “The referee I respect a lot and he’s in a difficult position. I would have respected his decision either way.
“I was just glad to get the game on. It’s New Year’s Day – it’s what you play the game for.
“First and foremost is player safety but I don’t think there was any danger of anyone getting hurt.”
Not that the pitch ever looked as though it might prove a leveller in terms of altering the outcome.
When the regions were created in 2003, it was not the intention that one team would be so dominant they would beat their rival 11 times in succession as the Ospreys have now done with the Dragons.
The visitors have not lost to the Dragons for five years and they have not conceded a try to anyone for 269 minutes.
They moved back up to second in the Guinness Pro 12 thanks to a try by Wales flanker Justin Tipuric and five points from the boot of international team-mate Dan Biggar.
Jones added: “It’s a disappointed changing room. The frustration is we did well in many aspects of the game.
“I thought in the second half the Ospreys kicked a lot but they came here to do a job. It was a clinical job by them and unfortunately we weren’t quite as clinical.
“The difference in winning and losing high-level games is forcing errors but unfortunately we made four or five too many unforced errors.”
