mens
Gallagher-Prime Minister
Bristol Bears winger Louis Rees-Zammit has become the latest player to call for artificial pitches to be banned after suffering burns to his leg in his side’s recent loss to Saracens in Gallagher PREM.
The Wales The star is not the first player to suffer such injuries on the 3G surfaces used by Saracens at the StoneX Stadium, Gloucester in Kingsholm and Newcastle Red Bulls at Kingston Park.
However, the 25-year-old should be used to the surface, having been a Gloucester player when they adopted the new surface in 2021, where he played his home games until his move to US Soccer in 2024.
To avoid such problems, World Rugby allowed players to wear tights in 2021, and Rees-Zammit’s former Gloucester team-mate Jonny May often wore them for home games, as did Newcastle winger Christian Wade.
The Welshman took to Instagram after the match to share a picture of his dazed leg with the caption: “Can we please stop playing on these AstroTurf pitches!! Someone do something about this!!”
Scratches and burns aren’t the only issues players have raised on the surface, however.
Bristol coach Pat Lam revealed after the 30-7 defeat in London that he kept players out of the game to avoid injury. Pedro Rubiolo, AJ MacGinty and Steven Luatua were rested for the trip due to earlier injuries.
“Last year they had a lot of injuries and it wasn’t worth putting them on that field,” Lam said.
“If we had played a game at home or if it was a semi-final, they would have played.”
Ex England winger Jack Nowell was another notable critic of artificial surfaces that he rarely played on Exeter Chiefs on the fields that used them. Not only were the scratches a problem for Nowell, but the surface exacerbated his long-standing knee problems.
Fortunately for Rees-Zammit, he has time to recover and Bristol are not due to play on the 3G pitch until the New Year against Gloucester.
