This afternoon’s meeting at Ayr goes ahead after the track passed a morning inspection.

The first day of Ayr's William Hill Gold Cup meeting has been abandoned due to a waterlogged track.

The next generation of Munster rugby stars will be unveiled at Musgrave Park on Friday (5.30pm) when the province contests their second British and Irish Cup final in three years, against Welsh club Cross Keys.

Ayr’s meeting on Monday is under no threat from the weather and no inspection is planned.

Irish striker Anthony Stokes fired Celtic to within touching distance of the first silverware of the season but refused to be drawn on their prospects of claiming a domestic treble.

This afternoon’s meeting at Ayr has been abandoned due to safety concerns.

This afternoon’s fixture at Ayr goes ahead following a successful early-morning precautionary inspection.

MUNSTER coach Tony McGahan admitted he is as fearful now for Heineken Cup qualification as he was before the first round of pool games.

MUNSTER’S latest second row prodigies Ian Nagle and Dave Foley are poised for a breakthrough, but they’re still hampered by the presence of an international “group of four” that will force them to wait their turn in the queue, according to respected analyst and rugby coach Niall O’Donovan.

MUNSTER’S injury woes continued yesterday when the province confirmed Peter O’Mahony will miss the Scarlets game.

Munster's Peter O'Mahony will miss Sunday's return game with Scarlets after sustaining a hairline crack to his jaw in the Round 3 game in Parc Y Scarlets last Saturday.

This afternoon’s jumps fixture at Ayr has been abandoned due to a waterlogged track.

Ayr’s third-last fence is out of commission for Tuesday’s jumps meeting due to vandalism.

Holders Celtic will face Peterhead in the William Hill Scottish Cup fourth round in January following today’s draw at Hampden.

Hibernian 1 Celtic 4

Officials at Ayr report the track to raceable and this afternoon’s meeting will go ahead.

Officials at Ayr have called a precautionary inspection for 7am ahead of Saturday’s meeting.

As the weather hit racing at Ludlow today, officials at Wolverhampton are upbeat over the prospects of racing this afternoon despite calling a precautionary inspection for 10am.

Officials at Ayr will stage a 7am precautionary inspection ahead of their meeting tomorrow.

Ayr scrapped their proposed early-morning inspection and will race this afternoon as scheduled.

Ayr will hold an inspection at 8am on Sunday ahead of their afternoon meeting.

Ayr have brought forward their planned inspection to 11am tomorrow.

Ayr’s meeting on Monday is subject to a 12pm inspection on Sunday afternoon.

THE selection of Donnacha Ryan in Munster’s British and Irish Cup squad confirms Paul O’Connell’s involvement in the Heineken Cup clash with the Ospreys at Thomond Park on Sunday.

Officials at Ayr are pessimistic about their chances of racing of Wednesday after calling a 12 noon inspection today.

This afternoon’s Flat fixture at Ayr has passed a precautionary inspection.

DENMAN is “virtually certain” to run in next month’s Coral Scottish Grand National at Ayr if conditions are deemed suitable.

IRELAND half-back pair Sam Cronin and Barry Keeshan will be keen to return to some unfinished business when they face their Scottish counterparts in a Club International at Donnybrook tonight (7pm).

This afternoon's meeting at Ayr has been abandoned due to frost.

Hopes are rising that tomorrow's meeting at Ayr could get the go-ahead after officials delayed their planned inspection.

Ayr’s fixture tomorrow is in serious jeopardy.

ALLY McCOIST refused to blame injuries to key players as holders Rangers almost crashed out of the Scottish Cup in the fourth round at Hamilton.

The weekend's football schedule has been decimated in the UK as the freezing weather conditions tighten their grip.

Ayr’s fixture on Monday is already under threat, with an inspection called for 11am on Thursday.

Ayr’s meeting on Saturday has been abandoned due to a frozen track.

Officials at Ayr are hoping for an unexpected vast improvement in the weather for them to have any chance of giving Saturday’s meeting the green light.

The cold snap continued to bite in the UK this afternoon as a raft of sporting fixtures fell prey to the sub-zero conditions sweeping the country.

The inaugural British & Irish Cup will get underway on the weekend of Saturday, November 21.

A BRAND new 24-team British & Irish Cup will take place from next season featuring Munster, Leinster and Ulster.

JUST like their senior counterparts, ‘Grand Slam’ is not a term being used loosely around Allen Clarke’s Ireland U-20 camp.

Ayr have put back their inspection from 1pm to 4pm today to see if the track has thawed to give them hope of staging tomorrow’s meeting.

Ayr’s gamble of staging an extra jumps meeting on Saturday looks like paying off as the course is now raceable.

THURLES have brought forward their planned inspection and will now assess the track at 9am today ahead of their Thursday fixture.

Catterick have abandoned their New Year’s Day meeting after the track failed to pass an 8am inspection while Ayr's weekend card has also been abandoned.