Samoa sevens coach Damian McGrath has criticised the travel schedule forced upon his team following the Wellington leg of the World Series.
The Manu won the bowl final at Westpac Stadium on Sunday night, with their match completed shortly before 7:30pm.
Samoa finished the tournament with only nine fit players and have been beset by injuries in all three legs so far this season.
Damian McGrath said his players were exhausted after but were not able to get a good night's sleep or begin a thorough recovery because they had to be awake at 3am on Monday to catch a 6am flight to Sydney, where the next leg of the World Series takes place this weekend.
He said to make matter worse, they are unable to check into their hotel in Sydney until 2pm local time, making the day effectively a write-off.
McGrath later tweeted from the hotel saying his players only had a "couple of hours sleep because of ridiculous flight time to Sydney - then boys have lay on floor of lobby 5/6 hrs waiting for a room!!"
The Samoa sevens team tries to get comfortable in their hotel lobby. Photo: Twitter / @mcgrath_damian
He added none of so-called "big teams are here, they fly this afternoon after a good nights rest - we're all equal but some more equal than others."
World Series champions Fiji, Wellington winners New Zealand and England are among the teams to avoid an early wake-up call and are due to fly out later today.
