The RBS Six Nations match between France and Ireland will now take place on Sunday, March 4.
Plans to reschedule to go ahead despite French protestations
The RBS Six Nations match between France and Ireland will now take place on Sunday, March 4.
The game was due to take place last weekend but was called off 10 minutes before kick-off after plummeting temperatures rendered parts of the Stade de France pitch frozen.
A Six Nations Council meeting on Monday ruled out this coming weekend as a possible replacement date, leaving March 3/4 as the only other free weekend of the tournament.
Six Nations Rugby Ltd chief executive John Feehan said on Tuesday evening: "We are delighted that we have agreed a new date within the Six Nations window for the match between France and Ireland."
The French Rugby Federation (FFR) were vehemently against such a move, which means several domestic Top 14 teams will lose a raft of players, wanting it to be played after the summer break.
Preference
The news also means that both teams will have to play four consecutive weekends in the run-in to the Six Nations - a situation that left the Irish Rugby Football Union voicing its dismay.
"We are disappointed with this decision," read a statement. "While understanding the difficulties that a postponed game brings to the international and club rugby schedule, the IRFU had proposed to the Six Nations that the preferred alternative date would be Saturday March 3 with an afternoon kick off.
"This was based on providing the Ireland team, who will be travelling for a second time to Paris, with a seven-day turnaround between its remaining four fixtures in the tournament.
"It would also provide any supporters wishing to attend the rescheduled game with an appropriate window of travel.
"Both proposed dates were discussed by the Six Nations council, but the decision was taken by the majority of the council to proceed with the date of March 4."
Regret
Six Nations chief Feehan later accepted that changes need to be made to the current rules that only the referee, host union or Six Nations council sitting in its entirety are able to postpone a game.
"We very much regret what has happened. This is not something anybody would have planned for or would have wished to happen," Feehan said.
"It's deeply disturbing. It's terrible that it happened. It's very frustrating for the fans and we very much feel for everyone who was affected, Irish and French.
"It has happened and we've got to look at how it happened and make sure it doesn't reoccur. We're going to have to revisit our procedures for calling a game off."
Ticket holders who are unable to make the re-arranged date are entitled to a full refund.
The match kicks-off at 3pm GMT.
