The subzero temperatures in Paris have prompted renewed fears that Saturday night’s Six Nations match between France and Ireland might be frozen off.
Thousands of Irish supporters will make the journey to the French capital today and Saturday morning and while the French rugby federation is putting a brave face on things, there are growing concerns over the prospect that the game may still be postponed.
The game is scheduled to kick off at 8pm tomorrow night – and it’s that late start time that has rugby fans a bit concerned.
Temperatures in Paris are scheduled to reach a maximum of 1 degree Celsius on Saturday, with lows forecast of -7.
And that could have far-reaching consequences for the fixture, particularly if the mercury dips early in the day and the playing surface at the Stade de France – which does not have the aid of undersoil heating – is frozen solid by kick-off time.
Should everything go ahead as scheduled, the freezing temperatures don’t seem to hold many fears for Sean O’Brien, as tweeted by former Leinster and Ireland hooker and O’Brien’s fellow Carlow man Bernard Jackman:
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