Panel blames rule mix-up

Premier Rugby publishes written judgment on Sale-Wasps row

By Rachel Griffiths   Last updated: 9th December 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Panel blames rule mix-up

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Wasps "did not actually refuse" to play their Guinness Premiership clash against Sale Sharks, according to a Premier Rugby panel.

Following a hearing earlier this week, the panel have claimed in their published written judgment that match referee David Rose did not tell Wasps he was the only person entitled to decide whether the Edgeley Park pitch was fit to play.

The panel also said Rose "did not state sufficiently clearly" to Wasps his decision the fixture should be played given his view the surface was in a fit state, but they agreed Wasps would have been in breach of regulations if they had refused to play the match following "clearer" communication to them.

The game was postponed 10 minutes before its scheduled kick-off time, while members of Wasps' coaching team had approached Rose 45 minutes earlier, expressing concern about the amount of water and mud on the pitch, with particular reference to scrummaging safety.

Confusion

The panel said: "We are clear in our view of what went wrong in this case.

"In short, the referee was acting under the impression that the relevant rule to be applied was IRB Law 1.6 'Objections to the Ground', which states as follows: 'If either team has objections about the ground or the way it is marked out, they must tell the referee before the match starts; the referee will attempt to resolve the issue, but must not start a match if any part of the ground is considered dangerous.'

"That impression was mistaken, since the relevant regulation applying to the fixture was actually (Guinness Premiership) regulation 4.4(j).

"The referee was further under the impression that the relevant decision as to what was 'considered dangerous' within the meaning of IRB Law 1.6(b) was, or at least could be, the unilateral decision of the objecting club.

"In other words, the referee thought that, if one club considered any part of the ground to be dangerous, then he, the referee, 'must not start the match'.

"In our judgment, that impression was also mistaken. The relevant consideration as to what is or is not dangerous must be one for the referee.

"It cannot sensibly be a unilateral decision for the objecting club. That would be a recipe for chaos and abuse.

"Against the background of this dual misapprehension, we can understand why the referee did not ever formally, or clearly, state to Wasps that he had made a decision that the pitch was fit for play and that the fixture should proceed that night.

"The result of this unfortunate confusion was that Wasps were entitled to proceed on the basis they had expressed their safety concerns (repeatedly), and that the referee had taken those concerns into account when making his own decision to postpone or call off the fixture.

"In this regard, it is relevant that Wasps knew at all times that they had not actually refused to play the fixture."

Responsible

The panel continued: "We find that, even though the referee was acting under this dual misapprehension, he is by no means solely responsible for confusion on the night of the fixture.

"A copy of the relevant regulations could, and should, have been available and could, and should, have been consulted by all parties.

"The referee could have been given clearer guidance about the relevant regulations and their application by officials from the RFU (Rugby Football Union).

"The referee could have been given more explicit training and guidance in advance of the fixture.

"We hope that obvious lessons will now be learned from this incident and that no similar incident will be allowed to recur."

Sale chief executive James Jennings said: "Given that Sale Sharks only received the judgment late in the afternoon, the club will make a full statement tomorrow (Thursday) once it has had time to analyse and consider the reason given by the panel for its decision."