Sale blast Wasps over postponed game

Wasps came under heavy fire on Friday night after they walked away from their Guinness Premiership match at Sale just minutes before kick-off.

The visitors claimed surface water down one channel of the pitch had made the Edgeley Park playing surface unsafe for action and they boarded their bus back to London around 7.30pm, forcing the match to be postponed and leaving thousands of supporters furious.

Sale claimed the pitch was perfectly playable and director of rugby Kingsley Jones said: "I'm not happy about it and I'm really disappointed for the players because they are devastated. I'm sure the Wasps players aren't as disappointed as they got on their bus."

He added: "All our preparation has been wasted. The referee basically said that Wasps weren't happy to play the ground on safety grounds.

"He was happy to take the field of play but he cannot force either team to take the field of play."

It was the third season running that Wasps had been involved in a late postponement.

Jones added: "I've played in much worse conditions than this. But Wasps were on their bus back home at 7.25pm and they made the decision that they weren't going to play the game."

Referee David Rose was happy for the game to go ahead but he said: "The situation is that Wasps didn't want to play the game because they felt the pitch was unsafe.

"At that point my opinion doesn't count for anything - I cannot make any team take the field to play.

"Once the game starts the safety of the game becomes my concern but before the game, I have no influence on either side."