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Kingspan Stadium in Belfast. Laszlo Geczo/INPHO
CONFIRMED

Ulster's clash with Leinster on New Year's Day has been postponed

The provinces were scheduled to meet on Saturday in Belfast.

ULSTER’S CLASH WITH Leinster on New Year’s Day in Belfast has officially been postponed.

The postponement of Saturday’s fixture has been confirmed by the United Rugby Championship.

The game has been postponed due to positive Covid-19 cases in the Ulster squad.

This marks the second consecutive weekend that both Ulster and Leinster have seen their games postponed.

Leinster only resumed training yesterday after a recent outbreak of Covid in their squad.

Leinster’s cluster of cases forced the cancellation of their Champions Cup clash with Montpellier two weekends ago and the postponement of their St Stephen’s Day meeting with Munster in Limerick. However, they were able to return to training at their UCD base yesterday.

Meanwhile, Ulster’s planned fixture against Connacht last weekend was postponed on account of Ulster’s Covid cases.

Now, Ulster’s outbreak has also resulted in the postponement of Saturday’s scheduled clash with Leinster.

The URC has also confirmed that the Dragons v Cardiff Rugby and Edinburgh v Glasgow Warriors fixtures scheduled to take place this weekend have been postponed.

These postponements come due to positive Covid cases in the Dragons, Cardiff, and Glasgow set-ups.

Several other URC games were postponed last weekend, meaning the competition must now reschedule a host of fixtures, most likely during the Six Nations window next year.

Connacht’s clash with Munster on New Year’s Day in Galway is still due to go ahead.

“The United Rugby Championship can confirm that three of this weekend’s R9 fixtures will not go ahead as scheduled due to a number of Covid-19 cases affecting four teams,” reads a URC statement.

“The following fixtures have been postponed:

  • Dragons v Cardiff Rugby
  • Ulster v Leinster
  • Edinburgh v Glasgow Warriors

“The games were due to take place on Saturday and Sunday (January 1 and 2), however, a number of positive Covid-19 cases in Cardiff, Dragons, Ulster and Glasgow Warriors squads have been reported.

“The URC Medical Advisory Group has liaised with the medical teams at Cardiff, Dragons, Glasgow Warriors, Ulster and their respective health authorities and deemed that these fixtures cannot go ahead as scheduled.

“The United Rugby Championship will now consider available dates to reschedule these games.”


The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud

Gavan Casey and Murray Kinsella take a break from eating and drinking to chat about some interesting contract news in Irish rugby.

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