By Owen Morgan
Welsh rugby fans have rarely had to be encouraged to enjoy a drink during a game.
But the PA announcer’s reminder for fans to drink plenty ahead of Saturday’s Pontypridd v London Welsh friendly had more to do with health and safety than any desire to boost the Sardis Road bar takings.
As temperatures surged beyond 30 degrees ahead of the 1.30pm kick-off, the man on the PA also reminded spectators to slap on the sunscreen and take care as the latest heat wave reached its searing peak.
The glorious sunshine meant the old House of Pain had rarely looked less intimidating – it’s beautiful tree-lined location looking resplendent and welcoming as spectators strolled under the dappled shade into the ground.
The uninviting cold and rain-lashed days of winter when the famous Ponty teams of yesteryear used to put teams to the sword on a muddy Sardis Road pitch seemed a million miles away as the two sides ran out onto the sun-bathed artificial surface.
But London Welsh were about to experience pain nonetheless as today’s Sardis Road stars produced a sizzling display of sunshine rugby.
From the moment Sam Hayward pounced on an early fumbled high ball in the visitors’ 22 to run in under the posts, there was only going to be one winner of this pre-season friendly.
London Welsh arrived in south Wales having secured their place back in England’s National Leagues on the back of their fourth promotion in as many seasons last April.
But they were forced to endure an afternoon of sweat-drenched toil as they found the hosts far too hot to handle.
Ponty were simply too good as the visitors were forced to chase the shadows cast by the sun.
An eleven-try romp saw the Indigo Group Premiership side cruise to a 73-7 win.
Wearing a pink and yellow kit, which seemed to enhance the urge for a cooling ice cream, Ponty’s display of running rugby in front of a crowd clad in sunglasses, shirtsleeves and shorts looked the perfect advertisement for those who advocate a switch to summer domestic rugby.
However, as an old rugby traditionalist, I’m not so sure.
I can’t deny, this was a wonderful occasion, unless of course you were wearing the red of London Welsh out on the pitch.
Running rugby on a fast track in the sunshine? What’s not to like?
There was a festival atmosphere as fans took heed of the PA announcer’s advice and enjoyed some ice cold refreshment under a forest of colourful parasols in the outside bar next to the main stand.
An elite travelling unit of London Welsh’s famous choir also entertained fans in The Shed with their half-time singing.
The majority of fans took refuge in the shade of the seats in the main stand and The Shed, but there was nowhere to hide from the head for the players out on the pitch.
You wonder how sustainable summer rugby is in such conditions, especially if predictions that the recent heat waves are likely to be more commonplace and even more fierce prove to be accurate.
After being baked hard by weeks of unrelenting sun, not all playing surfaces will be as forgiving as Ponty’s plastic pitch.
And while Saturday’s match was sensibly split into four quarters to allow players plenty of opportunity to take on liquid and for the coaches to make multiple changes, would these measures be practical in league and cup matches?
There are obviously other considerations regarding summer rugby. London Welsh themselves had to play their final ‘home’ game of last season away from their Old Deer Park home as the ground is shared with Richmond Cricket Club.
A number of local rugby clubs not only share their facilities with cricket clubs, but also players who excel at both sports. It would be a huge shame to force those players to make a choice between the summer and winter games.
Summer rugby just isn’t cricket – which could be decimated as a sport as a result of a switch.
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Players already almost outnumber spectators at some county championship matches as it is.
I love the sound of leather on willow, but there would be few sadder sounds echoing around a deserted ground when everyone’s gone to watch the rugby instead.
And what about the atmosphere at the rugby grounds? Some complain they are already lacking in that department.
Many of the people who still sing, clap and jump up and down at rugby matches are largely doing so to try and keep warm!
Summer rugby could wipe out the game’s fabled big match atmosphere at one sweaty stroke.
Rugby commercial departments would also have to employ a major rethink.
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Sales of branded woolly hats, scarves, hoodies, fleeces, padded jackets and gloves, etc would surely plummet. Could Bermuda shorts, vests, sliders and bucket hats bring in the same revenue!?
Apart from anything else, what would the rugby community do during the long dark nights and the dreary, slate grey afternoons of winter?
One of the few chinks of light that make the murky gloom of winter just about bearable is rugby.
As much as Saturday’s romp in the park at Sardis Road was a thoroughly enjoyable day in the sun, for as long as most of us can remember, watching rugby has been about freezing rain dripping down the little gap between the collar of your jacket and your neck.
Wearing half the contents of your wardrobe to keep out the biting cold; buying streaming hot coffee, not to drink, but to thaw out your frozen fingers; a swift nip of something purely medicinal from a hip flask to ward off winter chills and stamping your feet on the hard concrete floor to make sure they are still there.
What’s not to love about that?
