20 Sep 2011

Samoa player apologises for Twitter rant

8:12 pm on 20 September 2011

Samoa centre Eliota Sapolu-Fuimaono has apologised for comparing the scheduling of his team's Rugby World Cup matches to the holocaust, but says he stands by his complaint that there has been an injustice.

Wales beat Samoa 17-10 on Sunday in what was considered a pivotal encounter in the battle for second place in Pool D which would mean a quarter-final place.

Following the loss, Fuimaono-Sapolu launched a tirade on social networking site Twitter against the International Rugby Board over his team's three-day rest period before the match, compared with the six days Wales had been allowed.

"How do we stop the injustice of being treated differently from Wales and the rich? Eh .IRB ? Tell us!!!," the post on the player's Twitter page read. "Please, all we ask, is fairness. If they get a week, give us a week."

Fuimaono-Sapolu went on to comment that his team's rest period was "like slavery, the holocaust and apartheid" and suggested that if Wales had had only three days rest and Samoa six, the result would have been different.

Samoa will play all four of their group games in the space of 16 days - though they have an eight-day gap before their third match against Fiji, while leading teams such as New Zealand, Australia and England have three weeks and more for theirs, Reuters reports.

The IRB has defended its scheduling, saying it is largely because of television demands for weekend matches featuring the major countries.

Samoa management to deal with player

The Samoa team's management met with Rugby World Cup organisers on Tuesday to discuss the context of the comments.

Spokesperson Fatu Tauafiafi says it was agreed that the incident would be dealt with by the team's management, with an announcement to be made on Wednesday.

Mr Tauafiafi says new guidelines will be put in place to stop such an outburst on Twitter happening again and the player's comments are not shared by the rest of the side.

The team's management says the players were always aware of the schedule and the turnaround time is not an issue.

Draw skewed to favour big teams - commentator

The seven teams who have the shortest rest period of three days between their pool games are all minnow teams, including Namibia, the US and Georgia. That is compared to the All Blacks' minimum six-day rest.

Sports commentator Joseph Romanos says the Samoan player may have a point about the number of rest days smaller teams get.

Mr Romanos says he is amazed that there has not been more outrage, as the draw is unfair and has been devised to favour the big teams.

"The people running this tournament know who they want in the quarterfinals and the semi-finals. They want the big teams there and they seem to have done everything to make sure that that happens."

Mr Romanos says short turnarounds mean injured players do not have a chance to recover and teams have to run second tier players, which is all the tougher for minnow teams.