THE decision on the fate of the cancelled Worcester vs Gloucester Premiership rugby match has been given.

Premiership Rugby has today published the full 'reasoned decision' from Sport Resolutions after an independent panel was formed to adjudicate on the match, which was due to be staged on Friday, March 25 at 7.45pm.

Gloucester have been handed a 20-0 win and five league points after Sir Gary Hickinbottom, Carol Couse and Jonathan Rennie made their decision.

The club will also be seeing compensation over the match, which was postponed after Warriors said they were unable to field enough front row players for the game to go ahead.

The report said: "...on the evidence, we do not consider that Worcester took either all possible or even reasonable steps to obtain loan cover.

"As we have described, their steps were limited to a WhatsApp message to the team managers of the other Premiership clubs the day before the match asking whether any front row forwards were available on loan for the following day, and telephone conversations with two Championship sides (Hartpury RFC and Cornish Pirates RFC) the day before the match."

A Warriors spokesperson said: "Warriors have received the full judgment from Sport Resolutions and, while we are disappointed with the outcome, we respect and accept the panel’s ruling.

"We can confirm that we will not be lodging an appeal against the decision to award Gloucester five match points.

"Our sole consideration in the decision that led to the cancellation of the Gloucester match was the welfare and health of our players and staff. At no stage did we seek to gain any advantage by cancelling the match.

"The judgment has, however, highlighted areas in our processes that could be improved. We will consider the findings in more detail and make improvements where necessary.

"Once again we apologise to Premiership Rugby, BT Sport, Gloucester and supporters of both clubs for the inconvenience that was caused by the cancellation."

Commenting on the report, Gloucester Rugby CEO Lance Bradley said:“The impact of Worcester’s decision to cancel the match was significant across the club and amongst both sets of fans, not least due to doing so within only a few hours of the scheduled kick-off.

“It was frustrating for both sets of fans who had been looking forward to a good game of live rugby, whether at Kingsholm or live on BT Sport, and it was frustrating for our players, coaches and other staff who had been working hard to prepare for the game."