Samoan star may face action for Twitter rant

SAMOA centre Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu could face disciplinary action following a Twitter rant after Samoa’s 17-10 loss to Wales.

The centre accused the International Rugby Board of “unfair treatment” as Samoa played for the second time in four days while Wales had a week off. The Gloucester centre, 30, accused the IRB of exploitation and compared Samoa’s treatment to slavery, the holocaust and apartheid.

An IRB spokesman said: “It is very disappointing.”

Fuimaono-Sapolu could be disciplined if he is found to have broken the Rugby World Cup code of conduct, which contains social media guidelines. There is also an onus placed on each nation to enforce those guidelines under a participation agreement.

Samoa coach Titimaea Tafua insisted his side’s four-day turnaround was “not an excuse” for the defeat in Hamilton but Fuimaono-Sapolu was enraged.

He tweeted: “IRB, Stop exploiting my people. Please, all we ask, is fairness. If they get a week, give us a week. Simple. #equity #justice.”

He later added: “Ok, it’s obvious the IRB are unjust. Wales get 7 days, we get 3. Unfair treatment, like slavery, like the holocaust, like apartheid. Give Wales 3 days off and give Samoa a week! We would kill them! “You can’t get punished for speaking out against injustice. That would be unjust. Anyone can tackle a man. Try tackling injustice.”

The fixture schedule is more testing on Tier Two nations as organisers want to timetable the leading countries in primetime slots to maximise commercial revenue. The IRB believe the only way they could solve the fixture issue would be to reduce the tournament to 16 teams, which would undermine the desire to grow the game.