MARK RODDENgets the reaction to Saturday night's game being called off at the last minute

IF THERE were any lingering doubts about the desire of the French Rugby Federation to build its own €600 million stadium by 2017, they were surely removed shortly before 9pm on Saturday night.

The FFR president Pierre Camou, one of the biggest advocates of a proposed new stadium which would hold a retractable roof, did little to hide his anger at the postponement of the match between France and Ireland.

He pointed out that his federation were not the decision makers in this case, seemingly seeking to lay the blame firmly with referee Dave Pearson.

Like many other people involved in French rugby, he also highlighted that games at Grenoble, Pau and Clermont-Ferrand had taken place earlier in the day, some in temperatures much lower than experienced at the Stade de France.

The French players and staff were more reserved, with most calling the postponement a logical decision given the state of the pitch before kick-off. French coach Philippe Saint-André said his players had been pumped up in the dressingroom before the game, and also stressed that it was in their interest to play on Saturday given that they had enjoyed a day’s more rest than Ireland.

Vincent Clerc said he was not sure the game would have gone ahead even if had it been moved forward, while Clermont centre Aurélien Rougerie said that while the team were frustrated, they agreed with the decision.

“We’re always ready for anything but it’s not easy,’ he said. “We’ve certainly avoided an accident, a stupid incident, something where you could do yourself some serious damage to your knee or your shoulder, especially in a scrum. You don’t know what could happen so I think it’s a wise decision.”

Outside the bowels of the Stade de France, however, there was a much less charitable reaction. French sports daily L'Equipecaptured the mood best with the headline "Complètement Givrés!" (Completely Frosted-up). The word givré, however, is also slang for crazy.

Supporters detailed how farcical the situation was inside the stadium, describing how they were getting texts from friends telling them that the game was off as they stood trembling in the stands and waited for news.

It also emerged after the game was called off that the head of sport at France Télévision had suggested earlier last week that the game could have been moved forward, although he said he had not discussed this idea with the tournament’s organising committee.

Toulon president Mourad Boudjellal called the situation “less than amateurish”, while former French coach Bernard Laporte suggested that the main men in the FFR will not care that the match was called off. Their tickets, flights and hotels are paid for, he said, so they do not realise the sacrifices that normal supporters make.

Also in L'Equipe,the Montpellier coach Fabien Galthié lamented what he had witnessed. Working as a commentator for French TV on Saturday, he said it was the right decision to call the game off but that he was perplexed by how it had been done.

“It’s the first time that I’ve seen that,” the former French international said. “Why do we not have a pitch that’s capable of hosting a Six Nations match at night when it’s cold? It’s going to give a bad image of France.

“And I put myself in the place of the Irish fans who came from far away with their families. It’s shocking. Clearly this cancellation is the failure of the Stade de France. The ground staff deployed everything but it wasn’t enough. This postponement will get people talking because the organisers weren’t capable of managing the event, to take the necessary action.”

While recognising that the players’ safety was paramount, Toulouse coach Guy Novès also expressed his dismay at the timing of the decision.

"Top 14 matches have been called off several days before," he told Le Parisien. "But here we've made 80,000 supporters come, a lot of them who've travelled a long way. I'm astonished. Why did they take off the covers at 7pm and not at the last second? The players could have warmed up inside."

Novès, who had made the trip to Paris for the match, also questioned why the covers were not taken off briefly earlier in the week to test how the pitch would react to the cold. The fallout, it seems, is just getting started.