LV= Cup: Newport Gwent Dragons punished for postponement

Newport Gwent Dragons have been given a £10,000 suspended fine and are forced to forfeit their LV= Cup clash with Saracens after the game was postponed.

The Welsh region called the game off as their Rodney Parade pitch was frozen.

But the LV= Cup's organising committee said there were no suitable alternative arrangements so awarded the English champions the fixture by a 20-0 score.

The Dragons, whose suspended fine is in place until next season's pool phase is completed, finished bottom of Pool D.

In a statement, cup organisers said: "The LV organising committee accepted that there was no intention to gain any advantage by the pitch being unplayable and that preventative measures were put in place.

"The LV Cup regulations are clear in that it is the home team's responsibility to ensure they can stage the fixture, as outlined in regulation 6.7."

The Dragons have been forced to postponed a number of fixtures in recent years due to frozen or waterlogged pitches, including successive home derbies against the Cardiff Blues in 2011.

The Newport-based club also had to move their Heineken Cup pool game with Wasps from their frozen Rodney Parade home to the nearby Cardiff City Stadium in December 2010 because the ground in the Welsh capital had undersoil heating.