ADVERTISEMENT
RugbyDump
REGISTER
LOGIN
ADVERTISEMENT
RugbyDump
Thursday Oct 24, 2019

Samoan centre unearths 2011 RWC saga that saw him banned

Although it is eight years since it happened, former Samoa international Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu has unearthed the events that caused him to be suspended from rugby during the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

ADVERTISEMENT

The centre, who was playing for Gloucester at the time, launched a tirade at the International Rugby Board (now World Rugby) on Twitter for their treatment of tier two nations, and how they were scheduled to play with shorter rest periods than tier one nations.

This came after a RWC campaign where Samoa had a four-day turnaround between playing Namibia and Wales, and a five-day turnaround between playing Fiji and South Africa.

Samoa lost both tests against Wales and South Africa, by seven points and eight points respectively. However, had they had longer rest periods, the results may have been different.

The centre was called to a hearing for his comments on social media, and was subsequently banned for missing it as he was unaware when it was.

He recounted the series of events on Twitter, sharing footage of the interviews that he had surrounding the saga as well.

ADVERTISEMENT

In the interview that Fuimaono-Sapolu shared on Twitter, he said that he was “still sore” four days after the South Africa Test, which is an indication of how physically demanding playing two sets of matches can be with such little recovery time.

Despite facing a backlash from the IRB, the 38-year-old’s complaints were clearly taken on board, as the structure of the RWCs have subsequently been changed to see tier one teams play matches on shorter turnarounds as well.

However, some feel that this is still not enough, as those matches have been contrived to see tier one teams play against weaker sides back-to-back. That is equally more likely as there will be fewer tier one teams in a pool to play against one another.

ADVERTISEMENT

Fuimaono-Sapolu was given a six-month ban for these comments, suspended for two years. He returned to Gloucester, and moved to Japan’s Coca-Cola Red Sparks in 2012, but never played for Samoa again.

WATCH: Fuimaono-Sapolu great try against Wasps in 2010

Related Articles

  • 44 WEEKS AGO

    Former international captain retires

  • 44 WEEKS AGO

    Tonga Qualify Rugby World Cup

  • 45 WEEKS AGO

    Julian Savea offers himself to the All Blacks...



ADVERTISEMENT

Great Tries

  • 2 DAYS AGO

    Jack Crowley drops the ball on dime for brilliant Munster try in URC Final

  • 3 DAYS AGO

    WATCH: World class offload from James O’Connor Leads To Long Range Reds Try

  • 1 WEEK AGO

    Leinster up and running with two incredible tries inside the first five minutes

  • 3 WEEKS AGO

    Chiefs Score The “Best Team Try” In Super Rugby History

  • 4 WEEKS AGO

    La Rochelle centre Seuteni produces other worldly offload in dominant victory

View All

Big Hits & Dirty Play

  • 6 DAYS AGO

    Watch: Cheslin Kolbe Dominates Sebastian Cancelliere with back-to-back big tackles

  • 1 WEEK AGO

    Ben Curry's World Cup hopes dashed as he becomes the latest victim of the crocodile roll

  • 2 WEEKS AGO

    Australian rugby player banned for 5 years after assaulting referee

  • 2 WEEKS AGO

    Anthony Watson comes within seconds of a Tuilagi haymaker

  • 3 WEEKS AGO

    South African Panel Debate Apparent ‘Clean Cut’ Red Card In Interesting Debate

View All

See It To Believe It

  • 14 HOURS AGO

    Barbarians Vs World XV highlights

  • 7 WEEKS AGO

    Silly Skill From Toulouse Fullback Highlights French Confidence

  • 15 WEEKS AGO

    Ardie Savea Moment Of Magic In Super Rugby Aotearoa

  • 15 WEEKS AGO

    'Armchair athletes' berate Arundell's seriously impressive bench press

  • 16 WEEKS AGO

    Worcester Warriors - The End

View All

Funnies

  • 16 HOURS AGO

    Munster Rugby loving life in Cape Town Following URC Final Victory

  • 1 WEEK AGO

    WATCH: La Rochelle Players Gate Crash O’Gara Interview

  • 1 WEEK AGO

    WATCH: Stade Rochelais Coaches With All-Time Coaches Box Celebration

  • 2 WEEKS AGO

    Stephen Jones’s deleted rugby 7s article leads to hilarious wikipedia update

  • 2 WEEKS AGO

    Watch: DHL Stormers Celebrate Munster Victory In Style

View All

Amateur

  • 20 WEEKS AGO

    You Won’t See Many Better Than This Silky-Smooth Try From Llandovery RFC

  • 20 WEEKS AGO

    Incredible Scenes As Caldy RFC Hand Ealing First Championship Defeat Of The Season

  • 43 WEEKS AGO

    Dubious Score Decides Result Of Rugby's Biggest Schools Fixture

  • 43 WEEKS AGO

    Incredible Scenes At School Boys Rugby Match

  • 43 WEEKS AGO

    The Next Dominant Backrow?

View All

Player Features

  • 2 DAYS AGO

    John Afoa breaks record on return to Super Rugby

  • 4 DAYS AGO

    Harry Potter to ‘disapparate’ to Australia

  • 5 DAYS AGO

    Steve Hansen makes statement following Folau selection

  • 1 WEEK AGO

    O'Gara gives honest response on Ireland job in passionate interview

  • 2 WEEKS AGO

    Australian rugby player banned for 5 years after assaulting referee

View All