HELENSBURGH Rugby Club coach David Calderwood says he plans to seek clarity from the Scottish Rugby Union over player welfare after six players went off suffering from mild hypothermia during the Grizzlies’ last league match of the year on Saturday.

Burgh slipped to a 19-8 defeat against local rivals Loch Lomond at Ardencaple in conditions which would have led Bear Grylls and Ray Mears to opt for an afternoon at home, in their onesies, watching It’s A Wonderful Life – with heavy rain, low temperatures and a bitterly cold wind contributing to the referee’s decision to call a halt to proceedings a full 20 minutes early.

Lomond had been on a run of good form ahead of the derby, but there was nothing festive about it for the home side – in fact, the only ‘wonderful’ thing was the referee’s early final whistle, by which point there was little feeling left for anything other than survival.

Loch led 14-3 at the interval thanks to a try and three penalties to Reece Court’s solitary score for the Burgh.

Soon after the re-start, and with the wind at their backs, Helensburgh fashioned a fine try through Scott Simmons, but there was little else to cheer on a dismal afternoon, and when the visitors trundled over for a second try, both skippers consented to no-side after 60 minutes.

But in the immortal and very apt words of Elsa, star of Frozen, the Greens must ‘let it go’ and start building for the challenges of the new year.

Calderwood said: “The boys were well up for this game. We knew we would struggle in the scrums but thought we could dominate the line outs and get parity at rucks.

“The weather had other ideas, though. It was a day made for how Loch play rugby.

“Credit to them for playing the conditions well but I thought we showed glimpses of what we can do and scored a great try.

“Should the game have gone ahead? Probably not, considering that six players from both sides were taken off suffering from confirmed mild hypothermia.

“I will be seeking clarity from the SRU on their policy on player welfare, in regards to playing on in extreme weather conditions.”

Burgh: Howell, Bowman, Rogers, Alton, Court, Linzee-Gordon, Kinsella, Jamieson, Ashdown, Feltham, D. Calderwood, C. Calderwood, C. Simmons, Kerr (c), S. King. Subs: Simmons, Greggain, J. King, Wain.

Helensburgh hope to field a XV against Lomond School Old Boys on Saturday, December 22, with kick-off at 2pm (tbc). The Grizzlies’ next league fixture is away to Clydebank on Saturday, January 5.