TYNEDALE believe they have a ’50-50 chance’ of beating the weather and getting their pitch playable for tomorrow’s SSE National One visit of Cambridge.

The club will inspect the surface today, chairman of rugby John Shotton stating: “There are three inches of snow on it at present, and the ground underneath that seems fine.

“We will take a look and see what the prospects are. At the moment I would say it is a 50-50 chance and we will do everything we can to get it played, but the forecast is for snow so we will just have to see what comes down.

“Cambridge are not due to set off until Saturday morning, which takes a little bit of the strain out of things, and at least gives us the time to give it every chance of being playable.”

With last week’s trip to Cinderford frozen off and already re-scheduled for the reserve date of February 9, Shotton said: “The next date if Saturday’s game is cancelled is due to be February 23, but Cambridge already have a game that day after an earlier match was postponed.

“That leaves the only available date for us as March 16, and if we can’t get it played then we will be looking into May and having to tag it on before the end of the season.”

Tomorrow’s game would provide an opportunity for Tyne to nudge into the mid-table reckoning, especially against a Cambridge side already well adrift at the foot of the standings.

At the other end of the table second-placed Blaydon are due to be at Esher tomorrow, with the Surrey club inspecting their pitch this afternoon.

Similar assessments will be made at Hull prior to Westoe’s National Two North trip, while Darlington Mowden Park’s match at Stockport is among the many in jeopardy due to snow and frost.

Meanwhile, Tynedale prop David Dickinson has been added to the England Counties squad for their upcoming match against their Irish equivalents in Cork on Friday February 9.

Dickinson toured Kenya and Uganda with England Counties in the summer, and joins a squad containing Blaydon front-rowers Matt Hall and Robbie Kalbraier.