A massive surface advantage: The Bulls are thrilled to escape the synthetic pitch of Scotstoun for their URC semi-final clash at Murrayfield. Photo: Backpagepix
The Warriors’ decision to move their United Rugby Championship (URC) semi-final against the Bulls from Scotstoun to Murrayfield in Edinburgh has been welcomed by Johan Ackermann.
The Warriors’ home ground has a capacity of just 7 300 and by moving the game to Murrayfield (67 000 capacity), the Scots can make far more on the gate takings. The Bulls won’t care about more Glasgow fans being at the semi-final — they are loving the fact that the game will be on turf and not synthetic grass.
It is no secret that South African teams hate playing on the 4G surfaces of some of the stadiums in Europe, such as Scotstoun. The Bulls-Warriors semi-final takes place at 3.30pm on Saturday, with the Stormers-Leinster match kicking off on the same day at 6.30pm at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
“I see we play at Murrayfield,” Ackermann said, after his team had crushed Munster 45-14 in the quarter-final at Loftus Versfeld. “It’s a grass surface, so it makes a big difference for us.”
