Leigh Leopards and Huddersfield Giants will resume the fixture that was left unfinished on Friday night because of a floodlight failure at the Leigh Sports Village; the game will kick off at 3pm on Sunday from the position at which it was interrupted, leaving 32 minutes to be played.
Last Updated: 02/09/23 1:13pm
Joshua Charnley carries the ball up the pitch. Credit: Leigh Leopards
Leigh Leopards and Huddersfield Giants will make history on Sunday by playing the final 32 minutes of Friday night’s abandoned Betfred Super League clash.
The game in question was halted after 48 minutes with the home side leading 16-12 because of floodlight failure at Leigh Sports Village.
Stadium staff tried in vain to resolve the issue for 55 minutes before a decision was eventually made to call the game off.
Fans waited patiently for an update on the fault hoping the action would resume but the decision was taken to abandon the game at around 10pm.
The RFL Board considered submissions from both clubs and have ordered the match to resume at 3pm on Sunday afternoon from exactly the position at which it was interrupted.
That leaves 32 minutes to be played and will feature the same number of remaining interchanges, and match officials.
This unanimous decision, which is thought to be unprecedented in Rugby League although it does follow examples from other sports, was taken with a number of factors in mind.
Fairness to both teams was one of them, including the welfare of both sets of players, given the lack of time remaining in the season for a rearranged fixture, and the ability of spectators to watch the match, especially those who had bought tickets for Friday night.
The latter two factors were especially important in determining a Sunday resumption rather than a midweek date, aided by the fact that both clubs play their next fixtures on September 8.
The clubs will make further announcements regarding ticketing arrangements for the resumption of the match.