Sale will not appeal against Premier Rugby's failure to punish Wasps after the Premiership match between the sides at Edgeley Park was called off last month because the visitors considered the pitch too dangerous to play on, despite calling the ruling unfair and an injustice.
"The episode was both regrettable and avoidable," the Sharks chief executive, James Jennings, said. "In the interest of not causing further damage to the game of rugby, we will now concentrate our efforts on rearranging the game."
The club said in a statement: "We are bitterly disappointed with this decision and cannot help but feel that it is wholly unfair and that the majority of independent rugby fans and commentators will identify with our sense of injustice."
Premier Rugby and the Rugby Football Union will now try to avoid a repeat of the fiasco by agreeing on a common regulation to clear up a grey area in the rule book. Wasps escaped punishment, even though Premier Rugby this week found that Edgeley Park was fit to play on, because the match referee, David Rose, adhered to an International Rugby Board regulation.
The IRB rule says that a referee must not start a match if part of a ground is considered to be dangerous and Wasps had told Rose they feared someone could be injured if they found themselves face down at the bottom of a ruck in surface water. The Premiership's regulation says that the referee has the final say if the teams disagree over the pitch and the panel found Wasps not guilty of being in breach of the rules because, it argued, Rose had applied the wrong regulation.
Had Sale appealed, the case would have gone to an RFU disciplinary panel which would almost certainly have disagreed with Premier Rugby's contention about which regulation took precedence.
The RFU said tonight: "The RFU will be working with PRL [Premier Rugby Limited] as a matter of urgency to review and clarify on this issue in time for the next round of the Guinness Premiership." As referees for Premiership matches are appointed by the RFU, they follow directives from Twickenham, not Premier Rugby.
The IRB's regulation is designed to protect officials from being sued in the event of serious injury. It is possible for a referee to comply with both, using his final say to side with the objecting team, but Premier Rugby wants the referee to rule on the state of a pitch before hearing the view of either side. It does not want one side effectively to have the right to postpone a game.
Harlequins, Sale's opponents in the Heineken Cup at The Stoop on Sunday, have dropped their England scrum-half, Danny Care. He received a yellow card for a late tackle against Leeds last Friday and Harlequins have suspended him for one match.
