Wasps can quote health and safety until they are, rather unhealthily, blue in the face. But their refusal to play against Sale in Stockport left a nasty taste in the mouth, as if they had overdone the anchovies on their quattro stagioni pizzas. I think that was the image that chilled any sympathy for the reluctant Londoners: sitting on their coach tucking into pizza as the Stockport crowd trooped home.
David Rose has taken the rap for the game that never was, a referee caught between a paragraph in the International Rugby Board's regulations and a clause in Premier Rugby's view on intemperate conditions. Slam the bloke in the middle; in a culture of health and safety, it's always the safest option.
Wasps have got away with their no-show – again. Just as they were once, slightly too often for comfort, involved in matches that were reduced to uncontested scrums, so they have become the club that doesn't play if the forecast isn't kind.
For a side that built a reputation on a decidedly robust and forthright style, they have become models of sensitivity and responsibility towards their workforce. But I think allowing them to tuck into deep-fill, or even thin-crust ham and mushroom, with or without extra pepperoni, may have been a mistake. Apparently there wasn't a side salad in sight.
It has been one of the true revolutions of the professional game that playing surfaces have improved beyond recognition. Mud is a thing of the past, with lushness of sward evident from September through to May. You can't just go postponing encounters in what still calls itself a winter sport at the first sight of a puddle. People may start thinking there is another agenda: a couple of injuries in the wrong position here, the flaky confidence of a place-kicker there.
It's perhaps why they have such a big back-up staff nowadays. Not to deal with patching up big brave souls after all. Physio A is entrusted with reporting to the ref that the lads are running a medium to severe risk of getting their knees dirty tonight. Physio B's job is to dial up the nearest Italian takeaway and tell them their night has just been made.
Sale's double disbelief – first at the attitude displayed by Wasps on the night, and, second, at the ruling that not only absolved the brief visitors to Edgeley Park, but that recommended a little lie-down with the curtains drawn after such a terrible ordeal – is frankly a little old-fashioned.
And to be honest, probably not very good for them. On doctor's orders they should avoid stress for the next few days and if that means not fulfilling their fixture away at Harlequins on Sunday then so be it. Margheritas all round?
This is an extract from The Breakdown, Eddie Butler's weekly email on the world of rugby union. To subscribe click here
