Ulster v La Rochelle: Ulster chief Petrie estimates venue switch will cost province £700,000

Ulster used frost covers and heaters in attempts to preserve the playing surface

Ulster Rugby chief Jonny Petrie says the switching of the Heineken Champions Cup game against La Rochelle to Dublin will cost the province around £700,000.

Petrie admitted he was "frustrated and angered" by the competition organisers' decision on Friday evening to move Saturday's game to the Aviva Stadium.

Ulster's Kingspan Stadium pitch has been frozen this week but Petrie said it was "playable" on Saturday morning.

"You'd be up to around £700,000," said Petrie of the likely cost to Ulster.

"You obviously got the additional expenditure incurred of making the move but you've also got the lost revenue.

"There's a lot of ancillary stuff on top of that….the local economy…our caterers, suppliers….these sort of things that have their own commercial benefit that arises indirectly or otherwise from the match days in Belfast.

"It's pretty tough [to absorb a £700,000 hit]. We're not immune to rising costs as an organisation and a business," Petrie told BBC Radio Ulster's Sportsound of the saga which will see the match against the defending European champions taking place behind-closed-doors at the Dublin venue, with no supporters present.

'Saturday inspection or game delayed to Sunday' - Petrie

The costs incurred by Ulster will include ticket refunds to supporters which Petrie said work would begin on next week and the province's CEO added that the inconvenience to fans who had planned to attend the match was uppermost in his thoughts.

The Ulster chief executive is convinced that European Professional Club Rugby [EPCR] should have either waited until Saturday morning to make a call on the Kingspan Stadium pitch or have put the match back to Sunday.

Petrie added that match referee Luke Pearce had found parts of the pitch were still unplayable when he surveyed the surface on Friday afternoon around 14:00 GMT but with temperatures forecast to rise, the Ulster chief believed a "further inspection at 10 o'clock this morning would be a reasonable route to go down".

"Ultimately, later on in discussion with the tournament organisers which ended up being about 6.30 last night, that decision was taken out of our hands and the match in Belfast was deemed not to be possible.

"Having stood on it and 10 o'clock this morning and having some independent expertise having a look at it as well, it was playable at that point.

"Listen….I understand that the tournament organisers have other factors at play in this as well around broadcasters and match operations.

"That was ultimately their decision and it's their absolute discretion but we would have wanted either to push the match back to Sunday, when we knew the temperatures were going to be 11 degrees or so with rain or for there to be a further inspection this morning."

A EPCR statement on Friday evening said that the decision to switch the venue was made due to "concerns over the safety of the playing surface" after several days of icy conditions.

Unlike Windsor Park, the Kingspan Stadium pitch does not have undersoil heating and with Ulster currently working on a plan to upgrade a playing surface that has remained essentially unchanged for decades, this is something that Petrie and others are likely to factor in amid their deliberations.

Dan McFarland's men were hammered 39-0 away to Sale in their opening match and now effectively lose home advantage against Champions Cup holders.

Ronan O'Gara's French side, who beat Northampton in their opener, flew into Belfast on Friday afternoon before having to travel on to Dublin by road.

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