Waqaniburotu banned

FIJI’S Dominiko Waqaniburotu fell foul of tournament officials when he was banned for three weeks for a dangerous tackle on South Africa’s Pat Lambie in their match on Saturday.

The ban means the 25-year-old’s World Cup is effectively over unless Fiji embark on an unlikely run to the last four as he will not be eligible to return until October 10 — the day after the completion of the quarter-finals.

Samoa centre Eliota Sapolu Fuimaono escaped censure after apologising for a Twitter rant in which he said his side’s treatment by the IRB was “like slavery, like the holocaust, like apartheid” in reference to their playing schedule.

The Pacific islanders play all four of their Pool D games in 16 days and were pipped by Wales 17-10 on Sunday, just four days after they had played Namibia which prompted his outburst. New Zealand’s economy, which is projected to benefit to the tune of €296 million from the tournament, also received an early boost from the influx of foreign visitors.

Electronic transaction processor Paymark, which accounts for 75% of all credit card sales in New Zealand, said that spending from overseas cards was up €7m in the first 10 days of the tournament compared to the same time period last year.

Hospitality, accommodation and rental cars were, as expected, responsible for the largest part of the spike in spending by foreign visitors, Paymark chief executive Simon Tong said.