“Player safety has to come first” | Wilson

• 8 Jan 2021

Glasgow Warriors Head Coach Danny Wilson shared the disappointment of the Warrior Nation following the postponement of tonight’s 1872 Cup clash with Edinburgh, but underlined his support for the decision on the basis of player safety.

Unsafe playing conditions due to sub-zero temperatures saw referee Mike Adamson take the decision to call off the match 20 minutes ahead of kick-off, as the two teams went through their respective warm-up routines.

Wilson expressed his appreciation for the efforts of the club’s grounds staff, who continued working right up until the decision in an attempt to ensure the match went ahead.

“At lunchtime today this pitch was good to go, but obviously the closer we’ve got to kick-off the lower the temperatures have dropped,” explained Wilson.

“All credit to the ground staff, who have done everything we could have asked of them to get the pitch ready to go – they’ve carried on doing everything possible on the pitch right up until the point the game was called off.

“It’s probably in a shape where you can have some rugby on it, but scrums are the main problem. Studs aren’t staying in the pitch at the minute, and it would only have continued to get colder as the night went on.

“The scrummaging part of our warm-up is a little bit later in our schedule than Edinburgh’s, so they were the first to raise the issue. We’d probably have come to the same conclusion, though, especially if they weren’t able to keep their footing.”

⚔ @GlasgowWarriors coach Danny Wilson discusses the postponement of tonight’s derby at Scotstoun

? “In this season, it’s one of many things that have surprised us and sent to test us, I think!” pic.twitter.com/mvUZlzWV7G
— Premier Sports ? (@PremierSportsTV) January 8, 2021

The Guinness PRO14 will now look to identify a new date on which to fulfil the fixture, as the two sides look to complete their 2020/21 campaigns prior to the inaugural Rainbow Cup.

For the Warriors boss and his squad, however, nothing changes in terms of their approach to each match.

“It’s disappointing, but the approach we’ve adopted throughout the season and spoken about as a group is to try and deal with any bomb that’s thrown at you,” said Wilson.

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, as the saying goes. Mindset-wise, until someone says otherwise you’re in the frame of mind to play a game of rugby. We all agree that if the pitch isn’t safe to play then we don’t play the game, though. Player safety is always the first concern.

“The next time we play Edinburgh, we’ll be just as motivated as we were tonight.”