EDINBURGH’S PRO14 game against Benetton, due to be played at BT Murrayfield this afternoon, was postponed yesterday after a member of the Italian squad tested positive for Covid-19. The league will now try to find a new date next month for the fixture.

“The Round 14 Guinness PRO14 fixture between Edinburgh and Benetton Rugby has been postponed,” a statement from the league explained. “The game was due to take place on Sunday, March 7 in Edinburgh, however, one person within the Benetton camp has returned a positive test for Covid-19. 

“Due to a concern around close contacts and having considered all of the available evidence, the PRO14 Rugby Medical Advisory Group has deemed that this fixture cannot go ahead as scheduled. PRO14 Rugby will look [for] available dates from April 2021 onwards to reschedule the game.”

It is not immediately obvious which weekend could be used to get the game replayed. Both teams’ playing schedule already goes beyond the end of the regular season, which is due to culminate in the final between the two conference winners on Saturday 27th March. Benetton will visit Glasgow on the same afternoon, while Edinburgh have a game against the Dragons on the following day.

The first weekend of April is out because the two Scottish sides have European matches then - Edinburgh in the last 16 of the Champions Cup, the Warriors in the same stage of the Challenge Cup. The draw for both competitions will be made on Tuesday.

If Edinburgh win their last-16 tie they will have a quarter-final the following weekend, while they and Glasgow also have their third 1872 Cup game of the season to fit in at some point after it was axed by the PRO14 from the end-of-season fixture list. The inaugural Rainbow Cup, featuring four South African sides as well as the dozen team’s in this season’s PRO14, is also due to start next month.