LEINSTER FINALLY bowed to the inevitable yesterday morning when calling off last night’s scheduled Magners League game against Glasgow Warriors at the RDS. The consequences for the European champions are manifold, while an increasing fixture logjam could now conceivably spill over to next week and seriously disrupt the Heineken and Amlin Challenge Cups.

Ulster last night issued a statement vowing that their game against Edinburgh next Friday at Ravenhill will not be frozen off, and to that end they have hired a large marquee and commercial heat blowers for use from this weekend.

Nevertheless, ERC are on high alert given another widespread severe weather warning for early next week, and have been in daily contact with all clubs concerned in the 22 European matches next week.

Significant disruption to the penultimate round of Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup matches would have potentially chaotic implications given there is no window for extending the competition. For example, the French Top 14 have a full round of midweek matches immediately following round six.

While acknowledging they’ve had weather enforced disruptions to the fixture schedule before, ERC chief executive Derek McGrath last night conceded that “the scale of this one presents a particular challenge because it’s across all countries at the moment, bar the south of France and north Italy as we speak, but the (bad) weather is on the way in all these countries.

“The back end of next week is looking a bit better and we are in contact with all the clubs and we’re making huge efforts to ensure that their games get every best chance of being played.

“In addition to that we’re being as pro-active as we can in looking at all other contingency measures. We convene a board meeting early next week to discuss possible options, and to ensure every available option is considered and open to us.”

With all bar the Edinburgh-Cardiff, tomorrow’s Munster-Scarlets and today’s Wasps-Leicester matches wiped out by the big freeze this weekend, as things stand, the golden rule must be to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. And in worst case scenarios, moving games to other jurisdictions or abroad, or possibly even playing behind closed doors, cannot be ruled out.

By lunchtime yesterday Leinster confirmed last night’s game had been postponed “due to extreme and unprecedented conditions overnight and this morning”.

According to a statement, following health and safety advice and in consultation with match officials, as well as representatives from Leinster and Glasgow, the pitch was deemed unplayable by the Sports Turf Institute (STRI) – ground advisors for the RDS – following an 11am inspection.

“Ground temperatures fell to -5 degrees overnight and a heavy frost set in which was followed by heavy snowfall early on Friday morning,” the statement added.

The net effect is to leave Leinster playing their first game for three weeks when returning to Europe next Saturday at home to Brive, while also seeking to rearrange two League games in a fairly congested fixture list. Ditto Connacht.

Shane Jennings had been due to captain the team but now, without a game for 13 weeks, his only chance of playing his way back into Leinster’s Heineken Cup starting team may have been scuppered. For his part, Jonathan Sexton won’t have played for seven weeks, but with the crunch game away to London Irish at Twickenham a week later, it’s likelier he will start against Brive.

In the event of a postponement, Magners League rule 3.7 states the match “shall be rescheduled by Celtic Rugby, after consultation with the respective teams.” There is a blank weekend at the end of January prior to the start of the Six Nations, but that would be the least favourable for Leinster given the Ireland squad will be in camp and Ireland A play the English Saxons in Bath on Sunday, January 31st.

Similarly, the following weekend Ireland not only play Italy in their Six Nations opener, but the Irish As also play their Italian counterparts in Ravenhill on Friday, February 5th. Furthermore, any rearranged fixtures involving Welsh sides can also be ruled out over those two weekends due to the LV (Anglo/Welsh) Cup.

This effectively leaves the remaining four rounds of the Six Nations as the only weekends when the games can be accommodated – in which case Leinster would be severely depleted compared to the last two weekends. Failing that, the League could wait to see if European semi-final weekend, at the end of April and early May, offers an alternative, or ultimately squeeze fixtures into midweek later in the season.

In any event, both Leinster and Glasgow trained simultaneously in the David Lloyd Centre in Riverview yesterday afternoon after the Scottish squad were unable to bring forward their flight home, and they were less than amused at having to undergo a futile two-night stay in Dublin at a cost of around €10,000.

In a statement, the Warriors said they were “disappointed and frustrated following the cancellation” of the game, adding: “The Warriors, who travelled to Dublin yesterday (Thursday), did so on the advice of Leinster officials who expected the game to go ahead as planned. A number of travelling fans have also been severely inconvenienced. The decision to postpone the match was made at 11am this morning. Glasgow Warriors will now be discussing the late cancellation of the fixture with Magners League organisers, Celtic Rugby, as a priority.”

They will also be submitting a claim for compensation through Celtic Rugby.