WATCH ABOVE: The Battle of Scotland rugby match will now be played in Spryfield instead of the Wanderers Grounds in Halifax due to unsafe turf. Global’s Dave Squires reports.
HALIFAX – An international rugby match, set to start this weekend, has been moved because the Wanderers Ground field in Halifax has been deemed unsafe.
Organizers of the Battle for New Scotland said personnel from Rugby Canada and the Glasgow Warriors made the call after arriving in Halifax on Wednesday.
A media release from Sports & Entertainment Atlantic said, “while efforts have been made over the past number of months to improve the Wanderers Grounds turn, it unfortunately did not respond as hoped and the safety of the players is our number one priority.”
“There was several sections of the field that didn’t have grass growth, when the teams didn’t look at it they just didn’t feel it was safe for them to play on,” said Derek Martin President of Sports & Entertainment Atlantic.
The match will now be played at Graves-Oakley Field Memorial Park in Spryfield. Preparations are underway to get the field ready.
The city, which maintains both fields, said this isn’t a case of bad or late planning. They have been working on the Wanderers turf since June to get ready for the event.
“We’ve done re-sodding, seeding, irrigating, fertilizing, anything you can do to get the winter damage fixed, unfortunately it hasn’t responded the way we hoped,” said Jennifer Stairs with the City of Halifax.
Organizers said they are working on a few challenges with the new site, including limited parking.
“We are working now with the city on a plan to utilize metro transit buses where we will set up a number of parking lots close by where people can come and park and then be shuttled into the venue,” said Martin.
The details on the shuttle service have yet to be released. All tickets purchased for the event are valid at the new location. Kickoff will go ahead at 3pm on Saturday, August 29, as scheduled.
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