Wasps escaped punishment for their part in the postponement of their Premiership match against Sale at a rain-sodden Edgeley Park at the end of last month because the match referee, David Rose, was not aware that the decision whether the game should go ahead lay with him.
Premier Rugby tonight published the findings of the three-man panel which met on Monday to consider a charge that Wasps had breached three of the Premiership's regulations by refusing to play the match on safety grounds. The panel cleared Wasps after ruling that the club had not actually refused to play the match.
They blamed Rose, who admitted that, although he passed the pitch safe to play on after listening to concerns from Wasps, had been swayed by the International Rugby Board regulation governing the safety of grounds, which says a referee should call off a match if there are concerns about safety, rather than the Premiership rule that gives a referee, in the event of a dispute between the sides, the final say. It was Rose who called off the match, saying he could not force Wasps to play, but at no stage did the Wycombe-based club refuse to take the field.
The panel also criticised the Rugby Football Union after hearing that Rose, following Wasps' insistence that surface water on one side of the pitch made it dangerous to scrummage and left players in danger of drowning if they were trapped face down in a ruck, rang Brian Campsall, the Union's elite referee development manager.
"Mr Campsall confirmed that the referee could not make Wasps play the fixture and that he should try to find out if agreement could be reached between the two teams," the report said. "The referee was acting under the impression that the relevant rule to be applied was IRB law 1.6, but that was mistaken." "We find the referee is by no means solely responsible for the confusion on the night of the fixture. A copy of the relevant regulations could and should have been available and could and should have been consulted by all parties; the referee could have been given clearer guidance about the relevant regulations and their application by officials from the RFU; and the referee could have been given more explicit training and guidance in advance of the fixture."
The panel concluded that the pitch was fit to play and that the match would have had to have gone ahead had Rose told Wasps that the decision was his and made it clear he did not share their concerns about safety. "Our view is that the claims by Wasps about player welfare were exaggerated."The panel found that Rose was wrong to interpret the IRB's regulation as meaning that if one side were unwilling to play because of safety concerns a referee had to call off a match. "That would be a recipe for chaos and abuse," it concluded. "It cannot sensibly be a unilateral decision for the objecting club."
The IRB's regulation covers the whole game, rather than just one tournament, and it was deliberately worded to help protect referees who could face legal action if they forced a team to play a match against its will and a player suffered a serious injury as a consequence. It should supersede the Premiership's, but that is an issue for lawyers.
Sale decided last night against taking legal action against Wasps in an attempt to seek compensation, though the club do not have the right to appeal against the panel findings: that is the preserve of Premier Rugby, which brought the charge.
The Harlequins lock Jim Evans is the latest player to retire from rugby at the age of 29 due to a shoulder injury. Evans, who joined Harlequins 10 years ago, won England Saxons and England Under-21 honours.
