Here’s the picture that shows Welsh sport’s most talked about pitch has finally bit the dust.

For work has started on installing a new ‘Desso playmaster’ surface, complete with a drainage and irrigation system, at Rodney Parade following the purchase of one of the country’s most famous grounds by the Welsh Rugby Union.

Officials claim the pitch, which has a 3G artificial pitch surround, will ensure an uninterrupted fixture list for all three teams who will play at the venue – Dragons, Newport RFC and League Two football club Newport County.

The old surface resembled a beach at times last season with County having to postpone matches because it was waterlogged and unplayable.

WRU chief executive Martyn Phillips made laying a hybrid surface and upgrading Rodney Parade a priority after the governing body formally took over Gwent region Dragons and the ground last Saturday, where Newport famously beat one of the great All Blacks sides in 1963 and which has been the scene of countless other wonderful rugby memories.

It’s installation is due to be completed for County’s first home fixture of the League Two campaign, against Chesterfield on August 26.

The first stage of the installation process, overseen by Hewitt Sports, the company which laid the Principality Stadium’s hybrid surface, was to remove the current playing surface in its entirety.

Next the irrigation and drainage systems will be repaired and replaced, before a new root zone and top soil is introduced. That will be following by the rolling out of a ‘carpet’ containing both live grass and artificial fibres.

“Flooding at Rodney Parade will be a thing of the past and the playing surface will be stable and consistent and fit for purpose,” declared Principality Stadium manager Mark Williams, who has been part of the WRU consultation group tasked with improving the Rodney Parade facility.

“We are using the same company who installed the pitch at Principality Stadium and they will also be providing training to all Rodney Parade ground staff on maintenance of the new system over the next few weeks, alongside our own head groundsman Lee Evans.

“The Rodney Parade solution is similar to that which we have at Principality Stadium and to the surfaces at Liberty Stadium and Cardiff City Stadium, although it does come with its well-publicised set of circumstances with three teams sharing it throughout the season.

“It may not always be ‘picture perfect’ but what you get with this system is the security that the pitch will be playable all-year round and free from the kind of problems which have threatened fixtures in the past.”

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Speedy Dragons wing Ashton Hewitt, who was named in Wales’ squad for the Six Nations but had to sit it out and the rest of last season because of concussion, presided over the start of the work at Rodney, which is understood to be costing about £700,000.

“Going out there to see the work that has already started on the pitch makes it all real,” beamed Hewitt, who returned to pre-season training under new coach Bernard Jackman last week after being cleared by medics.

“I know that everyone throughout the rugby department is looking forward to the season ahead with extra excitement. Hopefully, this new hybrid pitch will help us play the way that we want to all year around.”

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Former Ireland, Connacht and Leinster hooker Jackman, who was coach of French club Grenoble last season, wants his charges to play attacking and entertaining rugby.

Dragons, who have been buoyed by the arrival of Wales’ twice Six Nations Grand Slam star Gavin Henson, hit the road next month for showpiece friendlies with Montpellier, Northampton Saints and Exeter Chiefs.

Pre-season preparations intensify for the men of Gwent with a training camp in the south of France, which concludes with a match against star-studded Top 14 side Montpellier in Aveyron on August 11.

The fixture is part of the annual Vaquerin Challenge tournament and sees the two sides revisit their European Rugby Challenge Cup 2016 semi-final meeting, which put eventual champions Montpellier, who will be coached by departed Scotland boss Vern Cotter next season, through to the final with a hard-fought 22-12 victory.

Dragons will be the first Welsh side to take part in the tournament. After facing Montpellier they will take on Lions and Wales wing George North’s Aviva Premiership side Northampton at Franklins Gardens the following day.

“These back-to-back matches will really challenge the squad and obviously put us under a certain amount of pressure logistically, but we will be facing many challenges in the season ahead and we want to get to a position where we are reacting well to those pressures,” said Jackman.

The final match of the pre-season schedule takes place at Sandy Park, where the Dragons face Aviva Premiership champions Exeter Chiefs August 19.