Wallaby great Mark Ella has struck upon the idea of playing the game we love on a pitch made of snow and ice!

Avid readers of Scrum will realise this will not be the first game of its kind.

Late last year we reported the clash between the New Zealand Antarctic research team's triumph over their American counterparts in a game played on a pitch consisting of ancient sea-ice.

That game generated comments of 'snow's a great leveller' from the participants which may be some good advice for Ella as he plans his showpiece.

Ella struck upon the his concept on a recent trip to the snowfields.

"(I) went down to the snow a couple of years ago and thought `what a great promotion and a heap of fun` to have a game of rugby in snow," he said.

He is heralding the fixutre as the world`s first official game of snow rugby, being played under lights at Perisher Blue skifields on July 27, will also have the dubious honour of being the highest altitude venue for a game of rugby.

By including fewer players and using a smaller field covered in a foot of snow Ella hopes to put on an attractive spectacle for all.

"What we`ll try and do is to make it an open game so that the players and the spectators can enjoy it rather than just getting bogged down - not so much kicking," he said.

Recruits for Ella`s `Rugby on Ice` include Wallabies David Knox, Steve Tuynman; league players Mark Carroll and Phil Blake and even Vulcan from the now-defunct TV show Gladiators.

Ella has even come up with a new form of penalty should a player commit a foul.

"If somebody gets sin binned they might have to get snowballed for at least five minutes," he said.