When weather conditions place the suitability and safety of playing conditions into doubt, there are often a number of questions about the process.
Cancellations caused by adverse weather are the primary responsibility of the home club.
Clubs must inform the referee of a cancellation immediately – if less than 24 hours before a fixture this should be a telephone call, but if text/e-mail then the referee must acknowledge as soon as possible by reply.
NB Should clubs choose to communicate by text/e-mail then they should not assume the message has been received unless they receive a reply indicating as such.
Once an appointed referee is informed of a cancellation they must inform the society as soon as possible by emailing the appointing member of the MG (i.e. Ben W for Saturdays, John H for Sundays)
Provisions are made within RFU regulation 6 for adult competitions
Prior to the game and before travelling to the game
If the weather forecast is poor then when games are confirmed, the referee should advise the home club of their planned departure time.
Where practicably possible, a decision by 5pm the day prior to a match should be taken, noting the practicalities of changing weather. For some competitions a pitch inspection by a referee* may be required. This does not need to be the appointed referee but another suitably qualified referee.
*If clubs require support from the society referees to conduct then they should reach out to the management group who will help identify a suitable individual to assist.
If the game is in doubt but the weather is forecast to improve then a further pitch inspection should take place prior to the referee’s agreed departure time and the decision taken by the home club should be communicated to the referee prior to their planned departure time.
If the referee and match officials are not advised and travel as normal to the home venue then they should advise the appointments secretary and secretary, and claim their expenses immediately on WTR noting the reasons for the late cancellation.
After teams and referee arrive at the ground
In short, for a game to kick off, both captains and the referee must be happy with the conditions.
Should one captain object to the conditions then the game will not take place. The referee should inform the society secretary and appointments secretary of what has happened if this situation arises as soon as is reasonably practicable and at most within 24 hours.
Should the referee decide that the conditions are unsuitable, they can decline to officiate. The charade of kicking off and immediately abandoning is no longer required.
Should the referee decide the conditions are unfit then they should inform the teams of this decision and leave the ground without undue delay. They should inform the society secretary and appropriate appointments secretary of this scenario as soon as is reasonably practicable and at most within 24 hours.
This is as per regulation 6. For age grade (incl. schools) fixtures then an appropriate team representative (coach/DoR) would be used in place of a captain.
When a decision as to the fitness of a pitch is required to be made when the Referee and both teams are present at the ground
(a) the decision shall be made by Captains of the relevant teams;
(b) If both Captains agree that the Match should proceed, the Referee shall also determine if the Match should proceed and remains entitled, in their sole discretion, to decline to officiate that Match on the grounds of safety or any other substantial reason; and
(c) If one or both of the Captains do not agree that the Match should proceed, the Match will not be played and the provisions of regulation 23 shall apply.
Cambridge University and District Rugby Referee Society 