The Leicester head coach, Richard Cockerill, today accused Wasps of "almost bringing the game into disrepute". Wasps refused to play their Premiership match at Sale last Friday because part of the playing surface at Edgeley Park was wet and muddy. The referee, David Rose, had ruled the pitch to be playable.
The Tigers face Wasps at Adams Park on Sunday and Cockerill said: "Pitches are going to be muddy because it is a winter game. There are going to be conditions that you do not like playing in and that do not suit your team sometimes but you have to get on with it. We might go somewhere without a full side or the pitch is a bit damp and we won't play because someone might slip over and hurt themselves. You are almost bringing the game into disrepute."
Premier Rugby is considering its response to events at Edgeley Park. The former England and Lions prop Fran Cotton, who is a Sale director, said: "I do not understand how we can have a position where one side refuses to play. If there is not agreement between the two sides, the final decision has to rest with the referee, who is independent. It is ludicrous that one team can just cry off and, as far as Premier Rugby is concerned, it is simple: Wasps should be made to forfeit the points."
Coventry may not have the option of playing their Championship game against Bedford on Friday night. The midlands club have gone into administration following the receipt of a winding-up order from the Inland Revenue, for unpaid tax bills. The club's owner, Andrew Green, said he had no option but to end his 42-month association because of a failure to attract new investors.
Coventry were one of the leading clubs in England in the 1970s but they have struggled in the professional era. Players were told not to turn up for training yesterday. The club's president, Peter Rossborough, will meet Rugby Football Union officials.
The International Rugby Board will set up a panel next month to review the laws after concerns from players and coaches that current regulations governing the tackle area are stifling attacking play. England's demand for a law change before the 2011 World Cup, on safety grounds, gained no support at a council meeting in Dublin today.
The council agreed that research should be done to test England's argument but any change would be made only after the panel, which will include coaches and former players, has reviewed the laws. The aim is to avoid a repeat of the recent four-year process which ended with the 35 experimental law variations, or ELVs, dividing the game.
