Barbarians vs Samoa interrupted by sprinklers as fans criticise lack of Wi-Fi and poor seating at West Ham's Olympic Stadium

Fans were left far from impressed with the facilities at the Olympic Stadium

Jack de Menezes
Saturday 29 August 2015 11:32 EDT
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Bakkies Botha and Carl Hayman are soaked by the sprinklers
Bakkies Botha and Carl Hayman are soaked by the sprinklers (Reuters)

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The Olympic Stadium is due to host its first Rugby World Cup match in little under a month when France and Romania run out at the soon-to-be home of West Ham, yet it looks like there's an awful lot of work to do before things are running smoothly in East London.

For starters, the water sprinklers spontaneously turned on during the maiden match to take place at the stadium between the Barbarians and Samoa, giving the players a soaking midway through the first half.

While tempers flared on the pitch in the form of a red card to Samoa’s Kane Thompson for scrapping with the Baabaas’ Saia Fainga'a, they may well have been off it as fans took to Twitter to complain about the alarming lack Wi-Fi and poor visibility from the seats.

A selection of the pictures are below:

The sprinklers come on during the Barbarians vs Samoa at the Olympic Stadium
The sprinklers come on during the Barbarians vs Samoa at the Olympic Stadium (Getty Images)

The sprinklers come on during the Barbarians vs Samoa at the Olympic Stadium
The sprinklers come on during the Barbarians vs Samoa at the Olympic Stadium (Getty Images)

The sprinklers come on during the Barbarians vs Samoa at the Olympic Stadium
The sprinklers come on during the Barbarians vs Samoa at the Olympic Stadium (Getty Images)

The sprinklers come on during the Barbarians vs Samoa at the Olympic Stadium
The sprinklers come on during the Barbarians vs Samoa at the Olympic Stadium (Getty Images)

Carl Hayman unsuccessfully tries to avoid the sprinklers
Carl Hayman unsuccessfully tries to avoid the sprinklers (Reuters)

Bakkies Botha and Carl Hayman are soaked by the sprinklers
Bakkies Botha and Carl Hayman are soaked by the sprinklers (Reuters)

The sprinklers turn on at the Olympic Stadium
The sprinklers turn on at the Olympic Stadium (Getty Images)

The stadium is due to host five matches during the upcoming World Cup – including the third-place play-off – and with fans eager to visit the venue that hosted one special moment during the London 2012 Olympics on Super Saturday, they’ll be very hopeful that the stadium itself will not ruin the event.

However, works at the stadium remain ongoing, and officials at the Olympic Stadium confirmed that plan are on course to have everything in place for the first game of the World Cup to take place there on Wednesday 23 September.

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