The subject of 4G pitches is still proving a vexing one for South African rugby players, as shown by the Vodacom Bulls’ Devon Williams and the DHL Stormers’ Ruhan Nel talking about the difficulties of playing on the surface within a few hours of each other in separate media briefings.
Although they did beat Cardiff, the Bulls looked like they might still be struggling with coming to terms with artificial surfaces in games against Ulster, who have just had a new pitch installed at the Kingspan Stadium, and Edinburgh - both of which they lost. And the Stormers did quite a bit of slipping and flaying about when they lost their opening tour game against Glasgow Warriors at the Scotstoun Stadium.
The Bulls don’t have to have the 4G surface that their fullback Williams admitted he is still finding challenging because of its newness to him to worry about this week as they are back at Loftus for their match against Connacht and won’t be touring again in the URC until March. But for the Stormers the matter remains pressing as they head into their final must win tour game against Cardiff on the 4G pitch at Cardiff Arms Park.
THEY LOST AT FRIDAY’S VENUE LAST SEASON
The Stormers lost there last year despite scoring four tries to two and they admitted afterwards that they struggled to adjust to their opponents’ kicking game in particular on the quicker surface. The Stormers haven’t won on a 4G pitch although they did have partial initial success as they came back from an early deficit to draw with Edinburgh in their first game on the surface at what was then the DAM Health Stadium in 2021.
Experienced Stormers centre Ruhan Nel considers himself experienced when it comes to 4G pitches as he has played quite a lot on them on the international Sevens circuit, but admits that even for him getting reacquainted with it is a challenge.
“We had our training session today on the 4G and we actually spoke about it after one cycle of training,” said Nel.
“You almost feel like you are half a metre too quick. You don’t have that resistance underneath your feet that you would on grass. You feel quicker when you are running and you get up to top speed a lot quicker. The threat is there from over-running. You need to be aware that you need to give yourself time on the ball.
“It’s a completely different dynamic. The breakdowns are quicker, you get there quicker. I was lucky enough to experience the 4G a few years ago with the sevens, but I haven’t played on this sort of pitch since the URC started, I was either injured or not involved in the game. There’s a big difference from playing on grass, but it’s just about creating some time for ourselves and not rushing decisions.”
"IT WILL COME WITH TIME"
According to Stormers assistant coach Dawie Snyman, the mastering of 4G surfaces will come with time.
“It’s just about the time that you get to play on it. It’s about getting used to it, because there is a bit of a different timing element to it,” Snyman said.
“The games are a little bit faster and breakdowns are faster, so it’s difficult to get your stealers in. It’s one thing we need to adjust to, although I’m not sure how we do it because we never train on it. Teams that play on it regularly in Europe, they get both training time and playing time on it.
“There are one or two elements (related to the pitch) that we realise we could’ve done better against Glasgow. Hopefully we get it right on Friday night.”
STILL IN A GOOD MENTAL SPACE
The Stormers are confident about the Cardiff game despite the alien nature of the pitch and the fact they have just lost three consecutive matches for the first time in the URC.
“The win will come if we keep following our processes,” said Nel. “Our changeroom after the Munster game wasn’t one of a losing team. Obviously we were disappointed because we lost and they are the one team in the URC we haven’t beaten yet, but we were good in so many aspects that the guys are genuinely positive.
“We are not feeling the pressure or talking about it as the minute you get too concerned about the results you can start getting tunnel vision. We mustn’t be a team that is scared of trying things,” he added.
Nel said that what was inspiring the team was the steady improvement being shown from one week to another.
“In SA it is 30 degrees and here it is 4 or 5 degrees, and Friday will probably be wet and we are playing on a 4G pitch. It is new in the sense that we don’t get this back home. But we are building towards something special and we see improvements every week. We are just letting it slip with the odd moment. The guys will be up for it on Friday night.”