Nure v Quins postponed

Belfast Harlequins made a fruitless journey to Dublin yesterday and ended up with a €100 bill for extra long studs.

'Quins clash with bottom of the table Terenure was postponed by referee John Sheehan just 30 minutes before kick-off due to pitch flooding.

Heavy overnight rain had softened up the surface and Harlequins' South African coach Andre Bester immediately ordered sets of the long studs from a local sports shop when he arrived at the ground in mid-morning.

"We felt we needed the longest legal studs we could get out hands on," he said. "But because of that heavy rain just before the match we've ended up spending over €100 on 120 studs we didn't need.

"The pitch was pretty horrible before the rain at lunchtime so we've no problem with the match being postponed."