Rugby College: Scotland rugby chiefs using garlic on Murrayfield pitch

By

David Kelso

PUBLISHED:

19:48, 7 November 2013

|

UPDATED:

19:48, 7 November 2013

Its pungent powers are legendary for keeping away vampires, colds, and even potential kissing partners.

Now garlic is the latest weapon adopted by Scottish rugby chiefs in their battle to save the countryâ€™s international pitch after an invasion of destructive parasites.

Bosses at Edinburghâ€™s Murrayfield stadium have revealed they are working â€˜round the clockâ€™ to get the surface ready for the upcoming autumn tests series which begins this weekend.

Perfect pitch? The Murrayfield turf has been invaded by parasites ahead of the visit of Japan on Saturday

garlic

Radical measures: A garlic spray has been used on the Murrayfield pitch after it was attacked by parasites

What are these parasites?

Root-knot nematodes are microscopic worms that cause huge reductions in crop yields and quality.Â

A plant infected with the parasite has

swelling on its roots, forming characteristic root knots or galls, and

its growth is stunted.Â

Females produce egg sacs on the outside

of the roots. The eggs then hatch and release root-knot nematodes into

the soil to infect more roots.Â

Problems with nematodes were rare in

north-west Europe, but in recent years they have been increasingly

harmful due to warmer summers and milder winters.Â

nematode

The playing area, rated one of the best in the world, had been ravaged by millions of parasites called root-knot nematodes.

They are hoping liquidised doses of garlic will eradicate the pests.Â

An SRU insider said: â€˜It doesnâ€™t mean players and staff have been peeling thousands of cloves of garlic and squashing them.

â€˜It comes ready-made in fluid form and will be sprayed on the grass via an attachment on a mower.â€™

According to experts, the garlic prevents the nematode eggs hatching after they have been laid on grass roots.

In the meantime, Murrayfield officials have insisted there is no danger of the outbreak affecting the availability of the pitch for Scotlandâ€™s encounters with Japan on Saturday, or the tussles with South Africa and Australia over the following fortnight. The spokesman said: â€˜Ground staff are working round the clock to create the best possible playing surface in challenging conditions.Â

â€˜The pitch has been affected by the naturally occurring nematodes, which damage the grass root structure.

â€˜A 24-hour recovery operation has been underway for around a month to treat the condition. The pitch, which has been used for Edinburgh games in the Heineken Cup and Pro12 League, will continue to be treated over the coming months.â€™

Stadium director Mark Laidlaw added: â€˜A soil examination in September revealed an excessive build-up of nematodes which have caused significant damage.

â€˜The result is a shallow and weakened root network. Though it continues to perform well in play, it can weaken under the significant pressure exerted by scrums.

â€˜Weâ€™ve worked with some of the leading experts in this area to examine and treat one of the best surfaces in world rugby, using natural remedies, including the spraying of garlic. But it takes a number of weeks to eradicate the problem and then to recover root strength.

Practice makes perfect: Scotland train ahead of their opening autumn international against Japan

SNS/SRU

â€˜The ground staff will continue their efforts to develop and consolidate the root structure, and hope to return the pitch to the standard we all expect at the national stadium.â€™

The strong smell of garlic is already known to repel pests and, if they bite into garlic leaves, it tends to send them scurrying away. Garlic also has antibacterial and anti-fungal properties.

Concentrated garlic oil is 100 per cent effective in destroying midge larvae in the lab, researchers at Edinburgh University found.

The warm and wet conditions of some of Scotlandâ€™s most popular tourist areas provide ideal breeding conditions for the pest, with each female midge laying around 100,000 eggs.