Exiles and Worcester admit defeat

Published 8 Jan 2010 14:11 0 Comments

WORCESTER finally had to admit defeat this afternoon, as their efforts to ensure the clash with London Irish beat the big freeze failed.

Following a pitch inspection this afternoon by referee Chris White, the Exiles' trip to Sixways Stadium to take on the Warriors was finally called off.

Despite the pitch having been covered since the conclusion of Warriors' Boxing Day match against Northampton Saints, the wind has picked up and got underneath the covers, causing areas of the pitch to freeze. There were specific concerns about the dead ball areas.

Phil Winstanley, Rugby Director at Premier Rugby said: "We are incredibly disappointed to have to postpone this match as everyone at Worcester Warriors has done their very best to try and get the match played.

"Ultimately, the wind chill has frozen areas at the very extremities of the ground covers and made those areas unsafe for players.

"Player welfare has to be our prime concern and with no improvement in the forecast and therefore the conditions, we were left with no option but to postpone the match.

"I would like to thank everyone at the club for their Herculean effort. They have invested a huge amount of time and resource and I can't see how they could have done any more, but these exceptional circumstances, the worst for well over a decade, have beaten us this time."

London Irish were quick to pay tribute to the efforts that all concerned at Worcester had made to try and ensure the match took place.

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