RUGBY:Tonight's A international between Ireland and the English Saxons at Donnybrook was cancelled just before kick-off.
French referee Jerome Garces had given the game the go-ahead at 7pm following his second inspection, only to change his mind a minute after the official start time with a crowd of 1,500 in the ground and after the teams had gone through their warm-up routines.
The pitch had earlier passed two inspections, with ground staff working all day to clear the surface of snow.
The England camp was concerned with the state of the surface at the Dublin 4 venue, although Ireland coach Michael Bradley confirmed that his side were willing to play the game.
England Saxons coach Stuart Lancaster was happy with the state of the pitch on an initial inspection at 3.30pm this afternoon, but changed his mind when he returned to the ground at 6.30pm
"When we turned up for the game and started our warm-up you could see it was a lot firmer. At the end of the day I’ve got a responsibility for my players and I wasn’t comfortable with them playing on that surface," remarked Lancaster.
“It’s incredibly frustrating but for me the right decision has been made,” he added.
The England team had gone through an arduous journey to get to Donnybrook. Yesterday’s flight was cancelled after a four-hour delay, leaving the squad to reassemble for an early flight this morning.
Their flight was then diverted to Belfast and a further one-hour wait before they flew on to Dublin. They spent another hour on the tarmac at Dublin before being able to disembark the plane.
Bradley was happy to see the game go ahead, although he was aware of the concerns of the England camp. “There is a balance of the risk of injury, but my feelings are that we would have liked to play,” he said.
The game is unlikely to be rearranged, with Bradley’s side set to take on their Scottish counterparts at the same venue next Friday.
Fullback Ian Madigan kept his composure to land an injury-time penalty as Ireland's Under-20side got their Six Nations campaign off to a dramatic winning start with a 9-6 victory over France at Dubarry Park in Athlone.
French outhalf Pierre Bernard put his side into the lead with a drop goal, with Irish scrumhalf Conor Murray finding his range with the placed ball to level matters before the break.
Bernard knocked over a penalty after 53 minutes, but Andrew Burke, who took over the kicking duties from Garryowen clubmate Murray after he was replaced, set up a dramatic ending when he slotted over 12 minutes from time to level the game at 6-6.
A superb break from Mark Doyle four minutes into injury time led to the award of a penalty on the French 22, which Madigan coolly stroked over to seal the win.
The Ireland women'steam got their Six Nations campaign off to a brilliant start in Ashbourne tonight, with a shock 7-5 victory over France in Steve Hennessy's first game in charge
Niamh Briggs missed two penalty chances as the sides went in scoreless at the interval.
French winger Cathy Langenfeld put her side ahead 13 minutes after the break with a try, but Fiona Coughlan bundled her way over with eight minutes remaining to level matters. Briggs made no mistake with the conversion to seal a famous win.
Ireland Collegeswent down 18-3 to the French Universities in the first international played at Balbriggan RFC.
Former Irish Schools outhalf Brian Collins put Ireland ahead with a drop gaol, but a try from centre Quentin Valenson added to a drop and penalty from Mathieu Belie put the French 11-3 up at the break. Mathieu Pallars got over for a second-half try, converted by Belie, to wrap up the scoring.
