Glaws mid-winter trip to Falcons postponed

The weather that has caused chaos all over the country has hit Gloucester’s game in the North East on Sunday, with Newcastle Falcons forced to call off the game at Kingston Park four days ahead of the date. It’s not so much the pitch which has caused the postponement – it’s covered and heated – but the potential danger to spectators in and around the ground.

The North East is under several inches of snow, with more forecast between now and the weekend and there’s little doubt that Gloucester’s long journey was also taken into consideration.
So is there a case of scheduling fixtures involving such long journeys at the beginning and the end of a season, rather than bang in the middle when road conditions could play a part?
Even if the pitch and the surroundings are were in perfect condition, getting to Newcastle would have posed problems for the team and supporters, whehether they planned to travwel by air, rail or road.
Why not plan such games for September, October, March or April and leave the middle of the winter for matches that involve less travel? Admittedly, Newcastle are out on a bit of a geographical limb, but many clubs are a lot closer to Kingston Park than Glaws.
It’s difficult to tell whether the enforced weekend off will help or hinder Glaws, who no doubt have wounds to lick after the scrambled home draw with Worcester.
But the postponement means that Gloucester’s next game is at home to Biarritz in the Heineken Cup on January 16 – hardly an easy return to action.
The competition looks a lost cause to Glaws this season, but they will have pride to play for then and a week later when they make the journey to Wales to play Newport Gwent Dragons in the same competition.
In fact, with LV games against Wuss and Harlequins coming up, the next Premiership game is not until February 13, when Quins visit Kingsholm.
A long time to wait for the survival battle to continue.