Sale director of rugby Kingsley Jones criticised Wasps after the Londoners refused to take to the field at Edgeley Park.
Londoners' rugby director cites safety concerns
Sale director of rugby Kingsley Jones criticised Wasps after the Londoners refused to take to the field for their Guinness Premiership match at Edgeley Park.
The visitors claimed surface water down one channel of the pitch had made the playing surface unsafe.
They boarded their bus back to London around 7.30pm, forcing the match to be postponed.
Sale claimed the pitch was perfectly playable and Jones said: "I'm not happy about it and I'm really disappointed for the players because they are devastated.
"I'm sure the Wasps players aren't as disappointed as they got on their bus.
"All our preparation has been wasted. The referee basically said that Wasps weren't happy to play the ground on safety grounds.
"He was happy to take the field of play but he cannot force either team to take the field of play."
It was the third season running that Wasps had been involved in a late postponement.
Jones added: "I've played in much worse conditions than this. But Wasps were on their bus back home at 7.25pm and they made the decision that they weren't going to play the game."
Referee David Rose was happy for the game to go ahead but he said: "The situation is that Wasps didn't want to play the game because they felt the pitch was unsafe.
"At that point my opinion doesn't count for anything - I cannot make any team take the field to play.
"Once the game starts the safety of the game becomes my concern but before the game, I have no influence on either side."
Wasps director of rugby Tony Hanks said: "We didn't think the pitch was fit to play and we don't believe, especially when it comes to scrummaging, that the surface was safe.
"We had a meeting with the referee and Kingsley Jones and at about 7.09pm we made the decision not to play the game.
"Nobody informed us that the pitch was in such a bad state. I'm gutted for the fans and we're all disappointed - but I'm still not going to risk the safety of the players.
"We got advice from the referee and as far as we are concerned we have gone down the right channels."
