LAWRENCE DALLAGLIO, writing in The Sunday Times of London, slammed the state of the Murrayfield pitch for Saturday's Six Nations match.

'That game yesterday could and should have been moved to another stadium and the two sets of players given the chance to play proper rugby,' wrote the former England No 8. 'The players did pretty well on a dreadful pitch and I thought the referee, Monsieur Garces, was outstanding. But that doesn’t mask the reality that Murrayfield was not fit for purpose.

'We have been told that it will be better next year, but what about this year? As it turned out, the Six Nations Committee would have been breathing a deep sigh of relief that yesterday’s rain at Murrayfield wasn’t any worse because if it had been, there would not have been any meaningful scrums.

'We are talking about the integrity of a championship game between two big rugby countries and all it needed was a little more rain to turn it into a farce.'

Read the full column (PAYWALL)

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