Ealing Trailfinders v Doncaster Knights: Griffiths pitches in with 3G concerns

“I’m totally against playing on such pitches,” said Doncaster’s director of rugby.

“Rugby is meant to be played on grass or at least hybrid pitches.

“Players can pick up some nasty injuries such as grass burns playing on these sort of pitches and they can have an impact on training for the next game.

“We’ll just have to make sure that the vulnerable parts of the body, such as the knees, are covered up the best we can.

“As I say, I’m not happy at playing on an artificial pitch but I don’t want to make a big deal of it because during the season you’ve got to play on a lot of different pitches and you’ve just got to get on with it.”

The club’s squad have trained on a 3G pitch this week as part of their preparation.

“The bounce of the ball is different, so is the scrummaging and the game as a whole is faster,” said Griffiths.

The Welshman says he is expecting a tough, physical challenge in London.

“They’ve spent a lot of money on players and they have put together a massive team with a lot of experienced players.” he said.

“They can play but from what I saw of their game against Jersey they are very forward orientated and very set-piece oriented.

“They might change their tactics having had a look at us and they might feel we’ve got some weaknesses elsewhere.

“We’ve shown a few in our early games but we’ve worked hard to eradicate them.”