English referee Dave Pearson has come in for criticism following Saturday’s late postponement of the RBS 6 Nations game between France and Ireland.
With the stadium full, and an earlier pitch inspection having not influenced him into calling the game off, Pearson cancelled it minutes ahead of the scheduled 9pm local time kick-off.
Safety concerns over the condition of the very hard pitch in freezing France enforced his call, but the fact that just ninety minutes earlier the Englishman had given the high-profile fixture the green light, later led French Rugby Federation President Pierre Camou to aim a dig at him.
"I cannot speak for the referee as he for his own reasons has chosen not to appear to explain himself," Camou said.
Irish coach Declan Kidney was quoted by the Irish Independent as saying: Because it's left to one person (the referee) that's our full focus. He's out there and wondering does he or doesn't he?
“That's a difficult situation for any one person to be in, he has the final say at the end of the day.
"Everybody said that it was going to be okay. (A) 9.00 kick-off at night? With hindsight, will people take a look at that and say, 'well what are the chances of that happening?'"
France coach Philippe Saint-Andre, meanwhile, added: "We would have preferred to play.
"The changing room was electric, the players were really ready to play but you have to respect the referee's decision, it's he who is in charge of players' safety."