Fiji's tournament goes from bad to worse with claims yesterday that their players drank kava all Friday in a binge that lasted into Saturday morning.
Officials rubbished the allegations from former national sevens coach Epeli Lagiloa but admitted the team did have a scheduled "grog session" approved by management.
Fijian team spokesmanCharlie Charters claimed Lagiloa had an axe to grind, since he had been sacked after the sevens team took the field in shirts made by him, instead of their official jerseys.
He said the team only drank kava once after their 19-18 victory over the United States.
"It was a chilling-down grog session. Where other teams relax with a few beers, we had kava."
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A USTRALIA touts itself as a culturally aware nation, but it seemed to be agog at the sight of Manu Samoa and Hurricane winger Lome Fa'atau's tattooed thighs. A widely published interview with the player focused entirely on his traditional pe'a. Among the insightful questions: did it hurt? and do they make you run faster?
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W HAT they're saying: "The All Blacks have a hard road ahead of them, and not even the most myopic self-delusionist from downtown Dunedin would bet his wooden house on them reaching the end of it now the Boks are hot once more." - Chris Hewett of the Independent sees trouble for New Zealand in the England-South Africa game.
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A S WE all know, England skipper Martin Johnson (right) spent two years in New Zealand playing rugby. In an interview conducted by his rugby playing brother Will in the Observer Sports Monthly, he is reminded of what he looked like on his return to the UK: "Basketball boots, skin-tight marble-effect jeans, white jumper and big hair." Martin Johnson's reply: "Well, I had been in the land that time forgot, hadn't I? I soon sorted that out."
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I N THE same issue, his coach Clive Woodward wonders aloud why no one wants England to win the cup. "It's every country ... We could list a whole load of quotes from French people, and Scottish and Welsh and Irish. It's just something to do with being English ... " Later, asked to think the unthinkable and say who other than England would he want to take the title, he said, "if England don't win it, I'd like France to win it, or Ireland ... " No mention of anyone from the Southern Hemisphere.
