Three Super League games fall foul of severe weather

The wintry weather has wreaked havoc in sport, with three of the six scheduled Betfred Super League matches postponed.

Thursday night’s televised fixture between Hull KR and Castleford at KCOM Craven Park was called off following a meeting with the Rugby Football League’s match commissioner, the club’s ground safety officer and representatives from both Rovers and Hull City Council.

Although the pitch has been protected throughout the week, there were concerns over player welfare with temperatures predicted to reach minus six, with an additional wind-chill factor and it was felt there was a safety risk for spectators.

The match between Wakefield and Huddersfield on Friday, which was also due to be shown live on Sky Sports,  was postponed, along with Leeds’ home game against Catalans Dragons.

Hull KR and Leeds have yet to make arrangements to re-arrange their fixtures but Wakefield will try again on Sunday and Sky will switch coverage on Friday night to Hull v Warrington.

St Helens are also considering switching their home game against Salford to Sunday if it fails a pitch inspection on Thursday.

Leeds, who were hoping to play their first game at Headingley since the partial opening of the new south stand and installation of a temporary north stand,  made their decision in time to prevent the Catalans boarding a flight to Yorkshire.

Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington said: “Postponing a game is not a decision that is taken lightly and it is something that has happened on only a handful of occasions in the past 20 years.

“I would like to thank the RFL and Catalans Dragons for their co-ordination on this matter.  We have taken the decision early because there is no sign of the situation improving according to forecasts.”

The adverse weather has taken its toll on Friday’s Guinness PRO14 Round 17 fixtures with three of the four scheduled matches postponed.

The match between Ulster and Glasgow was the first to go when a decision was made on Wednesday due to the travel implications for supporters, players and staff. It has been rearranged for the weekend of April 20-22.

Threats to travel and the potential of severe weather on the day of the game, which raised health and safety concerns for all those involved, were also cited as the reason for postponing the clash between Edinburgh and Munster at Murrayfield.

The match has been rescheduled for the weekend of March 16-18.

And it was a similar situation at Cardiff Arms Park, with Benetton also unable to travel to Wales from Italy after their flight was cancelled.

In racing, Thursday’s meeting at Newcastle was abandoned following further snow overnight and Newbury’s jumps meeting on Friday has been abandoned.

Both meetings at Doncaster on Friday and Saturday were abandoned as was the Irish fixture at Dundalk on Friday evening.

The Flat meeting on Friday at Chelmsford must pass an inspection on Thursday after four inches of snow overnight.

Even indoor sport was affected, with the Premier League darts event in Exeter on Thursday unable to go ahead.

The red weather warning also applied to the south-west and left organisers the Professional Darts Corporation obliged to call off the competition.

The PDC said: “The PDC was informed by Westpoint Exeter on Thursday morning that local authority and police advice for the region was for no non-essential travel to take place and there were severe concerns over the safety of spectators and staff both accessing the venue and then leaving after the show.”