Plans foiled by weather

Press, 4 July 1983, Page 21

Plans foiled by weather

The rain, sleet and snow which bombarded Dunedin in the three days leading up to the third test on Saturday dealt a body blow to the Otago Rugby Union’s plans to present the match as a showcase of the game. In spite of the waterlogged pitch, however, Carisbrook was presented in as good a condition as possible, considering the appalling weather which held the city in its grip. So intent was the Otago union on making a success of the match that the pitch was not used for any games for two months before the

test. It sported a fine sole of lush, green grass and, according to Mr John Dowling, the chairman of the Otago union’s management committee, it could have been used for a cricket match up until Tuesday of last week. “That evening the groundsman was using a hand mower to trim the sidelines,” he said. “But then came the rain on Wednesday and the soaking became progressively heavier.” On Saturday morning the union called in a helicopter for two hours to help dry

the pitch, and transferred the curtain-raiser to another ground. Even so, the playing field was still depressingly swampy for the teams in the big game. However, jibes about the playing conditions were quickly refuted by Mr Dowling. “At least we' didn’t play a test underwater, as they did in Auckland in 1975,” he said.