Referee Turner upsets Fiji

On the official web site of the Fiji Rugby Union, the union's chairman, Keni Dakuidreketi, has castigated South African referee Andy Turner, who presided over the Fijians' 66-10 defeat against Italy in Treviso. Italy scored five of their seven tries while Fiji were playing with reduced numbers because of disciplinary cards. The Fijian captain, Alifereti Doviverata, was given a red card and Waisale Serevi, Vili Satala and Sisa Koyamaibole yellow cards.

Waisale Serevi was sinbinned half-way through the first half, for a high tackle. While he was there, Fiji went from leading 10-9 to being 24-10 down. Dakuidreketi is reported as saying: "Without having the benefit of TV coverage or a detailed report from the manager, it is difficult to respond specifically to the match. However, the nature of the game - the penalties, red and yellow cards - suggest a big problem which may have nothing to do with the Fiji team.

"Fiji might just have walked into a refereeing man-trap. Frankly, on the face of it, I think a lot of people will think we have found ourselves a South African Paddy O'Brien," said Dakuidreketi, referring to the Pool match between Fiji and France in the 1999 Rugby World Cup, which O'Brien refereed. Anybody who knows Pacific island rugby knows the Pacific islanders believe they rarely get the benefit of the doubt and are sometimes the victim of predatory refereeing."

He also referred to Tonga's match against a Scottish Development team when the referee, Didier MΘnΘ of France, sent off two Tongans and sent another two, along with three Scots, to the sin bin. "When this tour is completed, and when we have all of the information to hand, I will be discussing with my colleagues in Samoa and Tonga making a strong representation to the IRB about developing a consistent pattern of refereeing that takes into account the unique way we play our rugby." Unique it certainly is.