Said Piggy at the post match dinner, “It doesn’t matter whether you are growing grass to milk cows or to play rugby on, the principles are exactly the same. When things got going at Northamton Saints I was complaining about the state of the pitch and they said get on and do it then.”

Having played for the club, he is now Northmpton’s head groundsman as well as solving problems of pitches nationwide. “With the way farming is today you have to diversify and slowly we have built up the business,” said Piggy, who waved his workers off to sort out the situation at Spurs as soon as the Bridgehaugh pitch was declared fit for play.

“I have never lost a game to the weather yet,” said Piggy. “But this one pushed us pretty close. I played full international games in worse conditions than this but it’s because I don’t think it’s fair for guys to play in such difficult conditions that I got into the business.”

The result? A saved game and a 6-6 draw for England A, with players indistinguisable in the mud and a swirling wind making kicking difficult.