The Silk Cut Challenge Cup final clash between the Bradford Bulls and the Leeds Rhinos will go ahead tomorrow - and that's official.

In a joint statement issued at midday today the Rugby Football League and the Scottish Rugby Union said the game at Murrayfield in Edinburgh will kick-off at 2.45pm as scheduled.

Barely 24 hours earlier the ground, which is the home of Scottish Rugby Union, was under three feet of water after the nearby Water of Leith burst its banks flooding the pitch, dressing rooms and the stadium's shop.

The announcement will come as a great relief to thousands of Bulls fans who set off regardless to Edinburgh in cars, coaches and on trains unsure whether the game would be played.

And it means the Bulls' players can concentrate on trying to win the Challenge Cup for the first time in 51 years.

Stuart Duffy, Bull's media officer, said: "We are delighted that the game is going ahead. We are sure that all our fans travelling up to Edinburgh will be very pleased and relieved as well.

"Obviously the Rugby Football League and the Scottish Rugby Union have worked very hard to get the stadium ready and it would have been a tragedy if the game had been played at a later date."

That the pitch is playable is a testament to the efforts of an army of stadium workers, electrical engineers, the fire brigade and even twenty players from the Scottish Royal Navy's rugby league team.

Technicians had to work through the night to get the power back on in the stadium which had left the digital clock stuck at 20.51.

"This is a proud day for the sport," said Rugby Football League deputy chief executive Dave Callaghan. "It has been a great achievement for British sport for two codes to come together.

"Everybody was determined that this great sporting spectacle would go ahead if at all possible."

Scottish Rugby Union chief executive Bill Watson said: "I want to thank all the staff and those from the emergency services and volunteers.

"Their formidable commitment has transformed Murrayfield which 24 hours ago was a very soggy site."

If the Bulls do clinch the cup, Bradford Council will give the team a jubilant reception on their return to the city.

An open topped bus will set off from Bankfoot at 5pm on Sunday and travel down Manchester Road arriving at Centenary Square for 6pm where the players will be treated to a civic reception by Bradford's Lord Mayor Councillor Harry Mason.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.