No-show lands Samoan suspension

Samoa centre Eliota Sapolu Fuimaono will ask the International Rugby Board to deliver "justice" for the smaller nations after he was suspended from all rugby when he failed to appear at a hearing in Auckland yesterday. The centre had been summoned after he labelled Welsh referee Nigel Owens "biased" and a "racist" on Twitter following his side's 13-5 World Cup Pool D defeat by South Africa on Friday. The IRB said the hearing had been adjourned by judicial officer Jeff Blackett when the player failed to appear, then suspended him until another hearing could be held.

"I had an idea there was a hearing but I had no idea when," Sapolu Fuimaono said. "It's ridiculous. You can't just suspend someone without hearing their side of the story."