Sale put lid on Wasps row

Edgeley Park

The whole episode was both regrettable and avoidable

James Jennings
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Sale Sharks will not be taking action after Wasps escaped punishment following the postponement of the Guinness Premiership clash between the clubs.

Any alleged breaches by Wasps were dismissed by a Premier Rugby panel earlier this week following the match being controversially called-off last month.

The game was postponed 10 minutes before kick-off at Edgeley Park after Wasps' coaches expressed safety concerns about the condition of the pitch, but the panel insisted Wasps did not actually refuse to play and that match referee David Rose did not state he was the only person entitled to decide whether the pitch was fit to play.

The panel also stated that Rose did not communicate sufficiently to Wasps his decision the fixture should go ahead, given his view that the pitch was fit for play.

Unfair

Sale have branded the panel's decision as "wholly unfair", but will not pursue the incident any further.

In a statement, Sale said: "While we understand the panel may have been of the view that it could come to no other decision based on its interpretation of the evidence, the position remains that Sale Sharks were unable to play a home game that should have taken place, and that nearly 8,000 Sale Sharks fans endured a huge disappointment, wasted time and effort in travelling to Edgeley Park and incurred unnecessary expenses.

"The same is true for those fans of Wasps who also travelled to the game.

"As a club, we are bitterly disappointed with this decision, and cannot help but feel that this decision is wholly unfair and that majority of independent rugby fans and commentators will identify with our sense of injustice.

"We have studied the decision in detail and have reflected on the reasons for the decision by the panel.

"We have concluded that taking any action in relation to this decision will not necessarily be in the best interest of our fans, the club or the Guinness Premiership.

"Accordingly, we will now concentrate on making arrangements to rearrange the fixture, dealing with the numerous complaints we have received from unhappy fans and attempting to rebuild faith in the game by concentrating on the rugby rather than a legal process."

Rematch

Sharks chief executive James Jennings added he hoped the rematch would see Sale secure victory over Wasps to go some way towards compensating for the incident.

"The whole episode was both regrettable and avoidable," he said.

"But in the interest of not causing further damage to the game of rugby, we will now concentrate our efforts on rearranging the game and making it up to the thousands of rugby fans that have been disappointed and whose faith in the sport of rugby has been let down.

"We will look forward to the rematch against Wasps and hope that at the second attempt we get the victory we deserve."