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**dudeabides** · 01-06-2010, 01:55 PM

It postponed some rugby last weekend, and hasn't stopped there:

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The cold snap has continued to wreak havoc on fixture lists, with a number of weekend fixtures in the Guinness Premiership and Magners League falling foul of the ice and snow currently blanketing much of the UK and Ireland.

Premiership leaders Saracens must wait for a chance to get their season back-on-track after their trip to face Sale was called off due to conditions surrounding Edgeley Park being too treacherous for fans, while Newcastle and Gloucester's showdown at Kingston Park suffered the same fate.

Bath requested a Premier Rugby pitch kit to ensure that their game with high-flying Northampton could go ahead at the Rec on Saturday, but deploying the covers and heaters proved difficult due to the heavy snowfall. The game was eventually called off by Premier Rugby after consultation, with clearing the snow "nearly impossible".

Leicester have brought forward Saturday's showdown with arch-rivals Wasps from a 5.30pm kick-off to 3.15pm, despite the game being slated to be shown on television.

"All parties have reluctantly agreed that under the circumstances and looking at the weather forecast, postponing the matches now is the best option for supporters, players and administrators," PRL rugby director Phil Winstanley said. "Snow and ice around Kingston Park and Edgeley Park make it potentially too dangerous for spectators and presents significant concerns for access for the emergency services.

"Under the expected conditions, it is likely that the matches would not gain safety certificates. We have all agreed that an early postponement is the best solution and we will now throw our resources behind the other four Guinness Premiership matches this weekend and hope that we can beat the weather."

In the Magners League, Ulster's clash with the Ospreys at Ravenhill is off due to the Belfast pitch being unplayable and Connacht have been forced to call off their home game for the second week in succession. Their meeting with the Dragons was scheduled for Friday night, but a combination of conditions in Galway and problems with the visitors' travelling arrangements have forced a postponement.

Leinster are looking at moving Friday's visit of Glasgow forward to 6pm in an attempt to beat the chill, but Munster are confident that the Scarlets' visit to Musgrave Park will go ahead on Sunday. Should the pitch in Cork be unplayable the game will be moved to Limerick's Thomond Park pending an inspection.

Weather wreaks havoc on fixture list | Rugby Union | English Premiership | Rugby News | Scrum.com

**dudeabides** · 01-08-2010, 01:20 PM

The latest match postponement causes this:

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Leinster may be forced to compensate Glasgow Warriors after their Magners League game at the RDS on Friday was postponed due to a frozen pitch.

The Warriors had travelled to Dublin for the game, which was finally called off at 11.00 on the day of the game. Leinster officials explained how they had been caught off guard by a sudden worsening of conditions overnight but the Warriors remained angry at their hosts.

"The Warriors, who travelled to Dublin yesterday, did so on the advice of Leinster officials who expected the game to go ahead as planned," read a club statement. "A number of travelling fans have also been severely inconvenienced.

"Glasgow Warriors will now be discussing the late cancellation of the fixture with Magners League organisers, Celtic Rugby, as a priority."

Leinster Chief executive Mick Dawson was apologetic following the decision, which may also inconvenience the Heineken Cup champions in terms of match readiness as they prepare for an important Heineken Cup meeting with Brive next weekend.

"Unfortunately, the pitch is unplayable despite a huge amount of effort made by the RDS ground-staff over the last week to get the game played," he said. "The weather just caught us out in the end because we were confident that it could go ahead up until yesterday evening."

Leinster coach Michael Cheika echoed his sentiments but remained confident that his side could still prepare well for their meeting with Brive.

"Obviously, we're disappointed that the game has been called off, but the weather overnight was too cold and there was no choice," he said. "We would have liked to have played this game before the Brive game next weekend, without a doubt, but we'll take the cards we're dealt and we'll get the best preparation possible under way ahead of that match."

Warriors furious over postponement | Rugby Union | Celtic League | Rugby News | Scrum.com

**Leinster777** · 01-08-2010, 03:51 PM

In fairness the pitch was fine then it dropped to like -12 or -14, we can't control the weather. Fan's wouldn't have even reached the game.

**dudeabides** · 01-08-2010, 11:08 PM

Still looking forward to that match when it comes around. And Leicester vs the Wasps seems like a great one too. Toulouse and Clermont the day after as well. But if anybody was looking forward to Munster...

Quote:

Sunday's scheduled clash between Munster and the Scarlets at Musgrave Park was the latest clash to be postponed. Following an inspection by officials from Munster and David McHugh from the IRFU Referee Department on Saturday morning, the game was called off. The pitch had been covered by a 'warm air blanket' since Friday morning at which stage officials were confident that the game would go ahead. However, overnight temperatures dropped to -9 and a further deterioration is expected tonight. Thomond Park had been considered as an alternative venue but was also considered unplayable.

Should the remaining fixture survive the inclement weather, the participating clubs will be given a huge opportunity to boost their play-off hopes with the re-fixing of cancelled games likely to occur during the Six Nations when frontline players will be absent.

Fifth-placed Edinburgh will look to make up ground lost in their double defeat to Glasgow over the festive period and have named Academy fly-half Rory Hutton in their team for the visit of Cardiff Blues to Murrayfield on Saturday. The 22 year-old will make his senior debut, replacing the rested Phil Godman who is ruled out with a hip injury.

Hutton has played for Scotland's Sevens team and he is one of six changes to the side with Allan Jacobson and David Young returning to the front row.

Cardiff have rotated their squad for the game after being nilled by the Ospreys last time out, with Gethin Jenkins and Xavier Rush both rested. Ceri Sweeney starts at fly-half ahead of Sam Norton-Knight, with Leigh Halfpenny slotting in at fullback as Ben Blair also takes a weekend out. Andy Powell returns to No.8 in place of Rush and skipper Paul Tito is restored to the second-row.

http://www.scrum.com/scrum/rugby/story/107836.html

**dudeabides** · 01-12-2010, 09:39 PM

Making up the matches is sounding tricky:

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The Magners League fixtures that fell victim to the the freezing temperatures last weekend are set to be re-scheduled during the forthcoming Six Nations meaning some sides will be stripped of their internationals.

The Irish Times reports that the matches must be made up either on the Heineken Cup/European Challenge Cup quarter-final weekend (April 9-11) or during the international window. "We'll see how teams progress in the Heineken Cup because obviously that might free up some ERC weekends for us," said Celtic Rugby director David Jordan.

"The other option would be to play through the international windows so, clearly, some teams would rather play with full-strength sides so if we can utilise some ERC weekends then they might consider doing that."

Jordan was also asked when a decision will be made public regarding the proposed entry of two Italian teams into the Magners League next season. "The discussions are ongoing," he said. "We have no defined date [for the Celtic board to vote on Italian clubs entry] but clearly we have to be mindful about planning for next season. There will come a point in time if matters aren't resolved then it will not happen next season. There is no decision made yet."

O'Driscoll claims another accolade | Rugby Union | Global | Rugby News | Scrum.com

**Leinster777** · 01-14-2010, 04:53 AM

I saw this coming a mile off, the calender is packed enough without having to move games around. And btw, I can't WAIT for the Italian teams to be in the Magners, its gonna mean only good things for Italian rugby and the competition.