THE first leg of this season’s 1872 Cup double-header between Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh, which was supposed to be played at Scotstoun last night, was postponed less than six hours before its scheduled 7pm kick-off time due to positive Covid test results in the home squad. 

The game – like the other five United Rugby Championship matches which have fallen foul of the virus this week – will now be played at a yet-to-be-decided date later in the season. The only URC match to go ahead as planned in this round was the Italian derby between Zebre and Benetton on Christmas Eve.  

“A number of positive Covid-19 cases within the Glasgow Warriors squad have been reported by the club,” explained a statement from the tournament organisers. “The URC Medical Advisory Group has liaised with Glasgow Warriors and Public Health Scotland and deemed that the fixture cannot go ahead as scheduled.” 

Both club head coaches acknowledged when naming depleted teams for this match that players had been unavailable for selection due to Covid, but a final round of Test results on Friday had apparently given both sides the all-clear. 

It was then announced yesterday morning that Edinburgh head coach Mike Blair was not going to attend the game because he was isolating due to being a close-contact “outside the club” at some point last week.  

Then, when it was revealed at lunchtime that the game was not going ahead due to more positive test results in the Warriors camp, it highlighted just how hard these two sides are finding it to keep on top of the situation. 

Warriors are understood to be hopeful that they will be able to play the return-leg of this fixture at The DAM Health Stadium on Sunday 2nd January [five days’ time], but that will be entirely dependent on how effectively they manage to contain the outbreak. 

Meanwhile, Blair is expected to return to training with Edinburgh later this week. 

The plus side for fans of both teams is that this postponement has created scope for the game (which was going to be played behind closed-doors) to now be played in front of crowds, after the Scottish Government’s three-week mini-lockdown has finished. 

“Glasgow Warriors will provide more information to Season Ticket Members and Ticket Purchasers in due course,” said a statement issued by Glasgow Warriors yesterday afternoon. “We will continue dialogue with the league and Public Health Scotland in the coming weeks. The club thanks its supporters for their continued patience at this time.”