1872 Cup clash axed 15 minutes before kick- off as cold snap hits

The Guinness Pro14 match between Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh was called off 15 minutes before kick- off last night and any hope of it being rescheduled for the weekend looks like being thwarted by TV scheduling.

The artificial pitch at Scot- stoun was ruled unplayable as both t eams warmed up amid freezing conditions. The surface was deemed dangerous in parts as temperatures dropped to around minus five degrees, with safe scrummaging impossible.

It is yet another disruption in a season full of them for the pro sides. The match, which doubles up as the second leg of the inter- city 1872 Cup, was originally meant to be played on 27 December but a Covid- 19 outbreak at Glasgow forced a postponement.

Both t eams accepted t he pitch was unplayable but Danny Wilson, the Glasgow coach, said it was unlikely the game could go ahead today or tomorrow.

“I don’t think so,” said Wilson. “I don’t know for definite, but as far as I know the broadcasting cannot be done tomorrow because it is too short notice.

“I have been told, presumably because of other broadcast commitments, that it won’t go ahead this weekend. I’m 99 per cent sure it won't be this weekend. It's another game we will have to reschedule."

Premier Sports is the broadcaster for Guinness Pro14 but is already planning to screen four live matches today, Dragons v Ospreys, Cardiff v Scarlets, Zebre v Benetton and Connacht v Munster. Tomorrow’s schedule is filled with Dutch, Italian and Spanish football.

Richard Cock er ill, the Edinburgh coach, confirmed scrummaging was impossible on the frozen surface.

“We arrived at the ground, t he players went out to do their primer – their warm- up just before the main warm- up – and a few of the players were saying the far side was very hard. It was hard to get any purchase. It certainly wasn’t fit to play on because we couldn’t scrummage.

"It’s not for me to really talk about. We’ve turned up as the away team to play a game and the pitch isn’t fit – there’s nothing else I can say to it, really.”