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Glasgow's clash with Edinburgh called off 20 minutes before kick-off

By PA
Cockerill and Wilson chewing the fat /PA

Glasgow’s Guinness PRO14 clash with Edinburgh was called off about 20 minutes before kick-off.

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The artificial pitch at Scotstoun was ruled unplayable as both teams warmed up amid temperatures of about -4C in Glasgow.

The match was originally meant to be played on December 27 but a Covid-19 outbreak at Glasgow forced a postponement.

No date has been set for the rearranged fixture.

Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill said: “The players went out to do their primer, which is just a warm-up before the main warm-up, and a few players were saying the far side was very hard and it was hard to get any purchase.

“The plastic grass on the top was soft but underneath it was very hard and wouldn’t take a stud.

“The ground staff did some work on it and we continued with the warm-up as normal but once we got to scrummaging over on the far side, all the front row players couldn’t get any grip at all, they just slid straight to their faces.

“It was impossible to scrummage on so it certainly wasn’t fit to play on.

“You want to play so you would like to think you wouldn’t get to this point.”

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Glasgow had trained on the pitch during the week but temperatures plummeted as night drew in.

Warriors head coach Danny Wilson said: “Obviously we train in the day, not in the night. The pitch was fine this afternoon but as the night has dropped it has got to minus three and the more frozen it’s become.

“As I’ve been told I am 99 per cent sure it won’t be this weekend based on the fact that broadcasting is an issue. It will be another game we have to be flexible with.”

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Jon 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

44 Go to comments
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