The clash between Harbour and Dunedin scheduled for Watson Park was moved when the ground was pronounced unplayable by referee Rob Wells seconds before kick-off.
Otago Daily Times correspondent Paul Dwyer said an area of about 50sq m around the middle of the ground was covered in mud and water following a spell of rain.
Watson Park had previously been declared unplayable for the June 14 round, forcing Harbour to shift a home game to the University Oval. Saturday's game was moved to Moller Park, at Ravensbourne, and finished in near-darkness.
The feeling in the club rugby community is a combination of sympathy for Harbour, which was understandably reluctant to give up another home game, and frustration the Dunedin City Council or the Otago Rugby Football Union did not make the ground transfer earlier.
DCC sport services officer Nick Maguire said Watson Park had been inspected and was looking in reasonable condition earlier in the week.
''We tried to do some work on it when it got a little bit dryer at the beginning of the week, and the contractors were pretty happy,'' Maguire said.
''It was looking pretty good before the weekend but a bit of rain turned it to custard, I guess.''
Maguire said Watson Park did not tend to drain well, and patches of the ground were a lot worse than the rest.
He rejected any suggestion the bog-like conditions presented a health risk.
Dunedin club chairman Lee Piper said it was obvious as soon as the premier team arrived at Watson Park on Saturday that the ground was unplayable.
''Even walking on the outside, you were just sinking into it. The referee basically said it was unsafe,'' Piper said.
''The whole thing was a shambles. We should never have gone to Watson Park and I think the council should have done a better job with the whole situation.''
Piper said it was also not ideal playing at Moller Park as the Ravensbourne ground had just had a premier 2 game on it.
ORFU community rugby manager Richard Perkins said all referees had the right to decide a game needed to be transferred if they deemed a ground unplayable.
Harbour coach Marty Hurring declined to comment.
