Frozen pitch leads to abandonment of Ulster-Zebre Pro 12 game

The Pro 12 encounter between Ulster and Zebre at Kingspan Stadium on Friday was called off due to frozen pitch.

The decision came after the match officials conducted an inspection at 18:00 GMT and deemed the pitch as unplayable with excess ice on it.

Even though no new date has been announced for the game, it is expected to be rescheduled in next year.

The ground officials' decision to not cover the pitch overnight became questionable but Uster team manager Bryn Cunningham came in full support of them.

"Nobody anticipated it getting as cold as this and we have done everything we can today to try and make the pitch available to play on," said Cunningham.

Ulster are currently placed sixth in the table with 23 points while Zebre are placed 11th with just seven points.