Cornish Pirates and Camborne played a pre-season game on a dry field at the Recreation Ground on Saturday [Brian Tempest] "Although summers are getting a lot drier, this is by far the driest we've been," says Simon Johnson, the groundsman at National Two side Redruth. Sports pitches up and down the country have been affected by the lack of rainfall, with the south west of England being in a state of drought since the end of July. A hosepipe ban was implemented earlier this month as little rain fell, causing difficulty for sports fields up and down the country. "The lack of rainfall has affected end-of-season renovations so grass seed hasn't germinated quite as quickly as it should have done," Johnson told BBC Radio Cornwall. "Then the dry spell has seen severely compacted pitches all over the county. "When it's frosty in the winter, the pitch is hard so games can get cancelled then but it's quite a rarity that games get cancelled in the summer because of pitch hardness."
Start of England's community rugby season postponed Your hosepipe ban questions answered
Last week, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) took the unusual step of postponing all community rugby matches until 21 September. Sides such as Redruth, in Cornwall, who play in the fourth tier, and those who play above, can play earlier subject to oversight from the RFU. The dry weather also means training has had to be adapted to keep players safe. "I think coaches just need to be sensible," said Cornish Pirates joint-head coach Gavin Cattle, whose Champ side played their first pre-season friendly at local National One rivals Camborne on Saturday. "Obviously the stuff on the floor - you just need to adapt basically what you're doing there. That's what we've been doing. "A lot of indoor stuff on mats like the breakdown, the contest on the floor, limiting tackling. "I do think the community game has got the players' interests at heart, as you can see with the adjustment to the start time." Map of England showing areas in drought and those with prolonged dry weather status [BBC] The delay to the season has a big effect on clubs in the community game in two ways - time and money. "We've had no revenue to speak of since April, when we played our last game," Tiverton RFC's vice-chairman Richard Woodward told BBC Radio Devon. "So getting games on for us is vitally important and whilst we've got a tag rugby tournament on Friday night, we've also got festival of rugby and music on Saturday, which we hoped would be contact. "But in reality, and with the RFU recommendation, we've got no option but to make that tag rugby as well so it's unplayable for any kind of contact sport." And while people will not be thinking of rain and freezing weather right now, taking a few matchdays out of the calendar at the start of the season could have a knock-on effect as the weeks roll on, both for player welfare and scheduling. "It's thrown everything back," said Woodward. "English rugby does put in what they call NAWs [next available weekends], building gaps in the season so that if matches are off, usually for a frozen pitch or a waterlogged pitch, then they can slot into these weekends. "But we haven't kicked a ball in anger yet and we've already had two matches postponed into those next available weekends in November. "There's a limit to how far you can push it at the front end without pushing it over the back end as well," he added. "A lot of rugby clubs, not us but a lot of rugby clubs, share their pitch or part of their pitch with the cricket team. "So at the other end of the season, you've got to finish rugby on a given date because there's cricket about to start - there's a limit to how much you can do in the time available." The RFU says the decision to postpone community rugby was not taken lightly but was done for clarity and player safety. "We know this decision will be disappointing for the clubs, schools and colleges, players, volunteers and fans looking forward to the start of the season, and we do not underestimate the impact it will have across the game," said RFU president Sir Bill Beaumont. "While we recognise that not everyone will agree with this decision, making it now provides greater certainty for clubs, schools and colleges as they prepare for the months ahead. "Player welfare and readiness have been central to our thinking throughout, alongside our desire to give the season the best possible opportunity to begin on a fair and consistent footing across the country."
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