Rugby:Referee Dave Pearson has received the full backing of the Six Nations Council after they released a statement outlining the pitch inspections conducted before Ireland's Six Nations match against France in Paris was called off.

"Having witnessed and assessed the rapid deterioration of the playing surface between the final pitch inspection and the scheduled kick-off time, and following consultation with the match officials, both coaches and championship organisers, Pearson deemed the pitch unplayable on player welfare grounds," said the statement.

The statement further clarified the procedures for postponing matches, highlighting that the home union and referee are the only parties able to make the call.

"There are no other parties that can make a decision to postpone a Six Nations match," it stressed.

“The Six Nations Championship is run annually according to the Operations and Procedures Manual which is the unanimously agreed rules of the Championship. These are updated annually and are signed up to by each participating Union prior to the commencement of the tournament.

“Under the rules the Six Nations Council is responsible for the scheduling of matches, including selection of the date, kick off time, and venue for each match. It is then the responsibility of the host Union to stage the match at the agreed time, place and venue. The only change that is allowed to this agreed schedule is subject to the following.

“It will be for the Host Union to decide whether a Match is to be postponed or abandoned for health and safety reasons or it will be for the Match referee to decide whether a Match is to be postponed (i.e. not started) or abandoned (i.e. stopped once it has begun) due to the condition of the pitch.

“The match referee Dave Pearson, attended Stade de France on Friday 10 February at 4pm and carried out an initial pitch inspection with the Six Nations representative, and a representative of the stadium management.

“A further pitch inspection was carried out on the referee’s arrival at the stadium on Saturday at 7pm, with the Six Nations representative and the host Union match manager, after the covers were taken off. At that stage the pitch was deemed playable.

“The weather conditions deteriorated rapidly and by the time the Referee went back on the pitch during warm up there were a couple of areas which were of concern to him.

He asked to speak to both coaches and it was agreed to try and heat the designated areas in order for the match to go ahead.

However as this was being put in place more areas of concern developed and with Player safety at stake, the referee had no option but to declare the pitch unplayable.”

Finally it stated that rescheduled date will be announced as soon as possible.