By Paul Morgan, editor of Rugby World Magazine
The ludicrous postponement of the Sale v Wasps game on Friday shows the Guinness Premiership in a bad light, and some would say as an amateurish league.
The current regulations allow for the referee to call a game off on the day before a match, but on the day for one club to refuse to play due to the conditions. Wasps said the pitch was unplayable, due to surface water, and Sale said it was!
Obviously those who missed out the most were the 8,000 fans in the ground when the game was called off minutes before the scheduled kick off. Again ludicrous!
What next! Directors of Rugby being asked whether a try has been scored or a forward pass made.
Wasps obviously acted within the rules, but they must be the last club to decide whether a game goes ahead or not!
The referee is the final arbitor or all the laws of the game and he and he alone must decide whether a game goes ahead of not.
Why Premier Rugby, the umbrella organisation of England’s top clubs, hadn’t spotted this crazy rule before is anyone’s guess but the loophole must be plugged now or else the league will be seen as a farce!
With rules on blood substitutions recently changed isn’t is about time Premier Rugby had a thorough look at all its rules in case there are any other crazy ones like this one hanging around?