Lote Tuqiri has joined Nemani Nadolo in slamming Super Rugby Pacific’s “unacceptable” mistreatment of the travelling Fijian Drua, the duo hoping such a turn of events never happens again.
Fiji-born legend and dual Australian international Tuqiri also took aim at New Zealand’s “lack of hospitality” after learning the Drua were forced out of their hotel room in Napier, with nowhere to go and rest, several hours before playing the well-accommodated Hurricanes in round two a fortnight ago.
But Tuqiri’s biggest beef is how officials, in this day and age, could have not organised better transport for a professional rugby team than on the Friday night horror show on February 21.
Having landed in New Zealand just before midnight, 16 hours before kick-off against the Hurricanes in a location several hours’ drive away, the Drua squad could not locate the bus booked by Super Rugby organisers to transport them to their hotel.
After discovering the bus company’s apparent mistake, the Fijian outfit reportedly piled into the back of a truck booked to transport the team’s luggage and equipment.
“It’s ridiculous,” Tuqiri told AAP.
“You’d think the organisers would have it sorted, given how old the competition is. It’s not like a new competition.
“It was probably not meant but, I mean, it’s actually unacceptable.”
Even after finally arriving at a hotel they had to share with the Hurricanes, the Drua players and staff were told they could not get a late check-out like their hosts enjoyed, before the 4pm kick-off on Saturday.
“You can’t expect a team to be treated that way,” Tuqiri said.
“They’re not an under-11s or under-12s team who have put funds together (for a junior road-trip).
“They’re a professional outfit and they should be treated accordingly.”
Nadolo echoed Tuqiri’s thoughts with a statement on Facebook, accompanied by a picture of the truck the Drua reportedly crammed into after their bus was nowhere to be found.
“How is this even happening? What frustrates me the most is that after a long flight, the team arrives at the airport only to find that their bus is nowhere to be seen. Instead of waiting another three hours for it to arrive, the boys jump in the back of a truck to get to the hotel,” Nadolo posted on Facebook.
“To make matters worse, they’re denied a late checkout, leaving them to either wander around or sleep in the lobby for hours-while the Hurricanes squad gets to rest comfortably in their rooms right up until game time.
“Me and a lot of others said they lost that game in the last 10 minutes. But after hearing what happened, I think they actually lost the game the minute they landed in Auckland.
“Now, think about this: every time a Super Rugby franchise visits Fiji, they’re treated like royalty, with police escorts and top-tier hospitality. Can you imagine an Australian or New Zealand team ever being put through something like this?”
Compounding the Drua’s frustration, they lost on the buzzer 38-34, having also let a late lead slip in round one at home against the ACT Brumbies.
“I don’t think we got all the favours landing in Wellington. We didn’t have a bus ready, unfortunately, and then even when we got to the hotel in Napier, we didn’t have a room ready,” Drua coach Glen Jackson lamented.
“So there were plenty of things that went against us.”
Then, after a six-day turnaround, the travel-weary Drua also blew a late lead against the NSW Waratahs in Sydney last Friday night.
Tuqiri, a 2003 Wallabies World Cup finalist and dual NRL premiership winner with Brisbane and South Sydney, said losing three straight tight contests against Super Rugby heavyweights was tough.
But the proud Fijian Australian considers the treatment in New Zealand even tougher to swallow.
“To be fair, I’m actually a little bit surprised at the New Zealanders’ lack of hospitality,” Tuqiri said.
“In the sense that they (Fiji and NZ) are close neighbours.
“Obviously the hotel was booked out and there were things going on that you can’t control, but I think those sort of things you can (find a solution to).
“You can’t have blokes walking around on game day, sitting in parks, lying down in the lobby and this, that and the other.
“It’s an unfair playing field. Getting in at 12 at night, the bus not being there … it’s just ridiculous. It surely can’t happen again.
“I’m sure it’s probably happened before but things have probably been put into place since.
“I don’t know the ins and outs of it but this shouldn’t be happening from a professional standpoint.
“The competition has been running now for 30-odd years.”
Source: espn.com