Glasgow angry at late RDS call

Rugby: Glasgow Warriors have expressed their anger at the cancellation of the Magners League game against Leinster at the RDS…

Rugby:Glasgow Warriors have expressed their anger at the cancellation of the Magners League game against Leinster at the RDS. The European champions had hoped the match would go ahead but low temperatures last night and severe frost meant the pitch was frozen at 11am this morning and the game was postponed after an inspection.

Glasgow are upset they were allowed to fly to Dublin yesterday.

"The Warriors, who travelled to Dublin yesterday, did so on the advice of Leinster officials who expected the game to go ahead as planned," the Scottish club said in a statement.

"A number of travelling fans have also been severely inconvenienced.

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

Leinster insist they had been confident of the match taking place up until last night, when temperatures fell to -5 degrees overnight and a heavy frost set in, followed by heavy snowfall early this morning.

Chief executive Mick Dawson said: "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.

"The weather just caught us out in the end because we were confident that it could go ahead up until yesterday evening.

"Following Garda and Health & Safety advice, we had to consider supporters travelling to the game from the far reaches of Leinster and beyond as well as the safety of the players as the roads and pathways around the ground are also treacherous."

Leinster head coach Michael Cheika added: "Obviously, we're disappointed that the game has been called off, but the weather overnight was too cold and there was no choice.

"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."

All tickets purchased for tonight's game will be valid for the re-arranged fixture.

This weekend’s sporting fixtures have almost entirely been wiped out as the big freeze affects the whole of the country.

Earlier in the week Ulster’s game against the Ospreys at Ravenhill and Connacht’s match against the Dragons at the Sportsground were both called-off, meaning all three of tonight’s games involving Irish provinces have been lost to the conditions.

Munster, meanwhile, remain confident their game against the Scarlets at Musgrave Park on Sunday (5pm) will go ahead as planned but officials are monitoring the situation closely.