Wales and Bristol wing Louis Rees-Zammit has called for an end to artificial playing surfaces in top-flight rugby. Following the Bears' 30-7 defeat by Saracens at the Stone X Stadium on Saturday, Rees-Zammit posted a picture on social media showing a heavily scarred right leg.
His caption was blunt: "Can we please stop playing on these Astroturf pitches!! Someone do something about it!!" Premiership clubs Saracens, Gloucester and Newcastle all play on artificial pitches, and the condition of the Saracens surface has come under scrutiny this season.
The debate was also fuelled by news that Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam left three key players out of the trip to north London because of the state of the pitch. Pedro Rubiolo, AJ Mac Ginty and Steven Luatua were rested.
Lam explained the decision: "They came off big injuries last season so it wasn't worth putting them on that pitch. If we were playing the game at home or if it was a semi-final, they would have played."
Source: BBC Sport · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing