Rugby
Historical Falcons
5 October 2007
Newcastle Falcons will make history on Saturday, as they play their first ever full-contact game on a synthetic pitch.
The Falcons Under-19s team will face the Dutch national Under-19s side on the fourth generation synthetic surface at Druid Park, the club's new state-of-the-art training facility situated next to Newcastle International Airport.
The Falcons' professional first team squad already uses the IRB-approved Druid Park surface daily for training, including full contact sessions, while local amateur club Gosforth RFC is also based at Druid Park after its summer revamp.
Falcons director of rugby, John Fletcher, will be in attendance for Saturday's academy clash against Holland, which kicks off at 12.30pm with free entry for all supporters.
"We have been training on the fourth generation pitch at Druid Park for around a month now after construction was completed, and would have no qualms at all about playing a match on it with our professional squad," said Fletcher.
"Rugby is moving on, and that means embracing new technology such as synthetic pitches.
"The surface is absolutely perfect, and our first team squad is already seeing the benefits from using it every day.
"There are no problems at all with any aspects of full contact rugby - scrummages, line outs, tackles or whatever - on the Druid Park pitch, and we are delighted with the quality of training it allows us to do, especially when the weather leaves our grass pitches unplayable.
"We would not use Druid Park as the training base for our professional squad if we had any doubts whatsoever about the surface, but the players all love it and we look forward to playing some Development Team matches there in the coming season.
"The academy side is making history by being the first Falcons team to play a full game on the synthetic pitch, and yet again we are leading the way in terms of innovation."
Another interested spectator at Saturday's game will be Newcastle winger Tim Visser, whose younger brother Sep is part of the Holland team which will face the young Falcons. But the family connection does not end there, with dad Marc - the former Dutch national team No.8 - being among the tour organisers for the travelling squad.
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