Tonight's Celtic League clash between Ulster and Munster at Ravenhill has been called off due to the icy weather conditions in the north of the country.

The match, which had been expected to attract a 12,000 capacity crowd, will be rescheduled to take place at a later date.

Heavy snowfall across Ulster overnight left Ravenhill completely covered and despite the pitch been deemed playable, a decision was taken to postpone the match in the interests of health and safety.

"The pitch has been under four inches of snow all day although there was no frost on the ground underneath, however, the safety of the some 12,000 ticket-holders was the main consideration in deciding to re-arrange the fixture," read a statement from the Ulster branch this afternoon.

"With supporters travelling from all over the province for the match and treacherous conditions on the roads, not to mention within the ground itself, it was felt that it would be impossible to proceed."

Ticket holders have been advised to hold on to their tickets, which will be valid for the new date.

Meanwhile, the game between Connacht and Llanelli will go ahead as planned despite overnight snow and frost in the province. With the Sportsground surface largely unaffected, the match will kick off at 6.30pm as scheduled.

There has also been a late change to the Connacht team with outside centre Daniel Riordan unable to take part in tonight's game due to illness. In a reshuffled backline, Matt Mostyn moves from the wing to partner Mel Deane in the centre, with his place on the wing taken by Darren Yapp.