Allianz Park in Mill Hill, North London became the first venue to host professional rugby union games on a non-grass pitch. Home to Aviva Premiership club Saracens, the official opening of the £24m venue took place on 16th February during Saracens’ clash with Exeter Chiefs - a game which Saracens won comfortably 31-11. Any doubts the Saracens players might have harboured over the new surface suiting their style of play were quickly cast aside as the team went on to win five of its first Premiership games at Allianz Park. The winning run lasted until 12 May, when Saracens lost to Northampton in the league semi-final.

This season (at the time of going to print), Saracens have won all three of their first home games at Allianz Park. The past nine months have shown that not only have Saracens taken to the new surface, but other teams have noted the advantages it offers. Cardiff Blues, the first opposition side to face Saracens at Allianz Park in a soft opening game in January, were certainly impressed – the club have since installed an artificial turf pitch at its Cardiff Arms Park stadium.

Turfing it
Specifically developed for rugby union, the Allianz Park surface was supplied by SIS Group. To survive the rough and tumble of professional rugby, SIS’s specially-designed ‘Rugger 65’ turf had to pass rigorous field tests to ensure optimum playing safety and lifetime. Specified by Saracens for full community as well as match duties, the pitch is the first application of the polyethylene fibre, which is designed to be extremely durable yet soft. According to George Mullan, SIS chief executive, the SIS Rugger 65 was put through its paces more comprehensively than natural grass and was tested independently to meet International Rugby Board (IRB) standards.

“Everything from vertical deformation to ball roll and bounce was tested,”he said. “We usually test artificial carpets to 20,000 cycles, but this surface has been tested to 50,000 cycles under extremely stringent conditions, designed to replicate performance characteristics.”

Completed in December, 2013 SIS worked in partnership with Labosport and Eric Wright Contractors on the project. The 12-week installation process involved laying a conventional stone base, including drainage, with an in-situ 25mm shock pad laid on before before rolling out the 65mm-pile carpet with rubber crumb infill. The two tone green surface is surrounded with a perimeter carpet in blue, to represent that of stadium sponsor – banking group Allianz.

The pitch offers more flexibility for staging a full programme of sport at all levels, with Saracens keen to attract local clubs and schools.

“Research suggests that an artificial surface fosters a faster game,” Mullan added. “This is due to fewer knock-ons and no muddy quagmires. Rather than variable conditions, the surface offers a stable surface all year round and more consistent footfall.”

The site stadium itself posed a number of challenges for SIS. One of these was to work within an athletics track – with the track still being used – throughout the project. Phil Blackwell, operations director on the Allianz project explains: “We had to come up with a solution for the pitch perimeter where it met with the track surface. A temporary removable system was required to achieve the required rugby pitch and run off dimensions and then be taken away to allow athletics to take place on the track.”

Eco friendly
Being low maintenance and not requiring regular watering and other energy-rich operations, the artificial surface fits in well with the operational ethos of Allianz Park – to become one of the most sustainable sports venues in Europe. As a club, Saracens has made sustainability one of its core values and from the outset worked closely with its partner – the London Borough of Barnet – to set challenging environmental targets for the development.

The site itself – the Copthill stadium complex – was in a very poor state of repair due to underinvestment in the facilities over a prolonged period. According to stadium director Gordon Banks, this offered the opportunity to ‘start again’ and to use the project as a catalyst for the regeneration in the area.

“Our aim has been to regenerate the area; albeit with an element of new build to bring the facilities up to the standards required for both elite and community sport,” Banks said. “The highest level of sustainability in any development can only be achieved when environmental considerations are a guidingprinciple.

“It began with the selection of the site, included the design of the building, the selection of materials, the construction process and, probably most importantly, the occupation and operation of the facility.”

SIS too played its part in reducing the carbon footprint of the venue, as the company has a strong track record in sustainable operations. SIS’s operations director Phil Blackwell said: “New synthetic carpet is manufactured to our own tufting plans which are designed to minimise waste, while rubber used for either infill or to make the shock pad is supplied by Murfitts, which manufactures the product from recycled truck tyres.”

Due to its commitment to host community events and a range of sports other than rugby, Allianz Park has also been designed to be flexible. Arena Seating designed and installed three separate grandstands, enabling stadium capacity to be altered to specific needs. Arena’s design means that seats can be moved off the running track during the closed season, allowing athletics to take place.

The success of the Allianz Park turf has meant that other rugby clubs and associations are considering installing artificial pitches at their venues. While Cardiff Blues already has one, the Welsh Rugby Union is examining the use of artificial turf at the Millennium Stadium – a venue which has suffered well-documented problems with its natural grass.

It might not be long until the archetypal, dirt-covered rugby player – as captured in the iconic ‘mudman’ image of former Lions prop Fran Cotton against the All Blacks – could become a thing of the past.