Ireland await new date

Six Nations - the tournament's organisers - have confirmed the match will be staged during one of the break weekends, either February 18 and 19 or March 3 and 4.

The contest, originally scheduled to take place on Saturday night in Paris, was called off due to a frozen pitch by referee Dave Pearson just 10 minutes before kick-off, with the stadium already packed in anticipation on the game.

Ireland will find out the date on which the match will be held on Monday or Tuesday, with former coach Eddie O'Sullivan believing the coming weekend is the preferable option for both squads.

"It's a stretch to hold the game next Friday," O'Sullivan said.

"But if we push it out between the mid-point then we'll end up with Ireland and France playing four matches back to back. That would put a huge strain on the squad.

"It would be much better if they could play it next weekend and then have a break after the third week.

"That would make much more sense in terms of players not getting injured or burnt out."

IRB backing

Meanwhile, Pearson's decision has been given the backing of the International Rugby Board, who have released a statement defending his reversal of a pitch inspection conducted around 90 minutes earlier.

"Player welfare and safety is the primary concern for the IRB and its match officials," the statement read.

"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 official team, both coaches and championship organisers, Pearson deemed the pitch unplayable on player welfare grounds."

The fallout over the shambolic scenes at the Stade de Frace continues, with some questioning why Pearson was not urged to complete a definitive pitch inspection on Thursday or Friday night, when conditions were forecast to be near-identical.

French television, who have also been criticised, were reportedly happy for the match to be brought forward to the afternoon to avoid the -8C temperatures during the evening.

Therefore the French Rugby Federation (FFR) has had the finger of blame pointed at them, but their president Pierre Camou has rounded on English official Pearson for not letting the match go ahead.

Camou said: "I'm not sure the argument of safety is suddenly a good one at 8pm. A Six Nations game between Italy and England was played in the snow and the referee was French."