A Welsh rugby coach has posted photographs on social media of burns his players received playing on an artificial pitch - sparking an investigation by the WRU.
The injuries occurred to Merthyr RFC players in last week Sunday's match against RGC 1404 in the National Cup semi-final which was being held at Pontypridd RFC's Sardis Road ground.
The BBC reported that Merthyr RFC posted photos of the injuries on Twitter.
Merthyr coach Lee Jarvis is quoted by the BBC saying, "The pitch was a little bit dry on the weekend and the boys came away with some nasty burns.
"With the weather being dry, they do say you need to water the pitch."
The £500,000 pitch was installed in September
Lee Jarvis said there had not been any problems when they played there previously and he did not think it would put players off using the pitch again.
"3G and 4G pitches are the way forward for me," he is quoted. "We've played all our games throughout the season and none were called off, compared to last season when we had five or six called off.
"I'm sure Pontypridd will sort it out. It's a club I love and I hope people don't think we are trying to pull something over them.
"The usage has most probably flattened the pitch and made it a little bit harder than what it was. I'm guessing that's why these friction burns have occurred."
On Thursday last week Wales Online reported that the Welsh Rugby Union has released a statement following a high-level pitch inspection at Sardis Road in the wake of the injuries going public.
An investigation was launched by South Wales Sports Grounds, the company that laid the surface, which the WRU joined in with.
Wales Onine posted more pictures of the injuries
The statement from the WRU said, “Representatives from the WRU attended an inspection of the Sardis Road pitch this morning, along with pitch contractors, members of the local council (Rhondda Cynon Taf) and Pontypridd rugby club officials."
“Further testing will be conducted over the coming days with a second inspection to be undertaken next week, at which time further details should be available concerning the issue and any relevant resolution.
“We will not speculate on the results of these tests and further inspection at this stage, but we know that 3G pitches are an established, proven and successful playing surface widely utilised by rugby union and are therefore hopeful that a solution can be found to the well publicised recent issue at the venue.
"Player welfare is of paramount importance to the WRU and a minimum standard is required for all playing surfaces in all of its competitions.”
A spokesman for South Wales Sports Grounds said it was in contact with Pontypridd RFC and the surface supplier over the matter.
Wales Online also reported that Merthyr RFC was keen to distance themselves from the controversy which had been caused by the pictures going public. A statement on Merthyr's Facebook page said, “To all at Pontypridd RFC, we would like to apologise for all the media comments on the playing surface of Pontypridd.
"Comments have been made by some of our players. These comments are not from the Merthyr RFC committee and are individuals expressing their own views. We have played there three times this season with no injuries. This is just a one-off incident.
“It seems that this has been taken completely out of context by the press, and are not the views of our club.”