A step-by-step guide will be issued to referees and clubs ahead of this weekend's round of Guinness Premiership matches to establish a clear protocol for postponements.
With adverse weather conditions affecting many parts of the country, Premier Rugby and the Rugby Football Union, who have held a series of meetings this month, are determined to prevent a repeat of the farce at Edgeley Park last month when Wasps's concerns about parts of the playing surface led the referee, David Rose, who, like Sale, believed the pitch fit to play on, to call the match off shortly before kick-off.
Wasps were subsequently absolved on a technicality by a Premier Rugby panel that ruled Rose should have applied the Premier Rugby regulation on the postponement of matches, which says it is the sole decision of the referee, not the International Rugby Board's rule, which says a referee should call off a match if concerns about player safety have been raised.
The RFU issued a statement today saying that the IRB's rules took priority over any tournament regulations. "It is vital that we do not have a referee caught in this position again," said the union's governance committee chairman, Peter Baines. "The IRB laws of the game must at all times take precedence and referees must feel able to enforce them without fear of recrimination. Our view is that there is no direct conflict between the laws and the Guinness Premiership regulations, but we have stressed that a referee cannot force a team to play and the final decision on whether to play must be taken by the team itself."
The RFU has issued a clarification to all clubs, but Premier Rugby is unhappy with a key element that says: "If one team believes the ground is safe and the other disagrees, the referee will attempt to resolve the issues between them. If they cannot be resolved, the referee shall give his opinion as to whether the ground is fit to play on, but he cannot force a team to play."
The RFU said it would not amount to a charter for teams who may want a game to be called off for other reasons, such as injury problems, to exploit the regulations, pointing out that the Premiership rules contain a range of provisions for sides to be punished if they call off a game without justification, but Premier Rugby wants a different emphasis.
Premier Rugby's director of operations, Phil Winstanley, is drawing up the step-by-step guide with Ed Morrison, the RFU's elite referee manager and he is arguing that a referee should rule on the fitness of a pitch before consulting the two teams, giving a side that then refuses to play less wriggle room if it is called to account for its decision.
Meanwhile, the England wing, Matt Banahan, has signed a new three-year contract with Bath, who have secured the hooker Pieter Dixon for another two years and the prop David Barnes for one. The Munster and Ireland back rower Denis Leamy is unlikely to play again this season after knee surgery this week.
