Brawling suspensions blot NZ victory at Singapore Sevens

SINGAPORE - One Samoan player was banned from all rugby for 24 weeks while five of his team-mates and New Zealand's Craig de Goldi copped 12 weeks each following the ugly brawl which blotted the Singapore sevens tournament.

New Zealand captain Dallas Seymour was suspended for three sevens matches for his part that sparked the free-for-all when New Zealand were leading 17-12.

Players from the Samoan bench charged into the field and joined the fight. At least two New Zealand players were viciously kicked or stomped on.

Uale Mai was identified as one Samoan player who came off the bench to join the fight. He was suspended for 24 weeks for stomping during the brawl.

New Zealand went on to beat Argentina 21-17 in the final, after eliminating Fiji 20-7 in the last eight and England 19-10 in the semifinal

New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens and Romeo Ah Chong of Samoa expressed bitter disappointment about the incidents and the lack of discipline their players showed in what was to be the feature game on the opening day of this inaugural international tournament in Singapore.

Despite the suspensions, the IRB-appointed judiciary that took action was powerless to do anything about the Samoans retaining seven players on the field after the fight and sending-offs.

When order was restored, South African referee Andre Watson red-carded Seymour, de Goldi and Samoan captain Semo Setiti. Setiti continued playing and the Samoans scored the try that tied the scores 17-17 which helped the Samoans to finish on top of the pool.

Video replays showed that Setiti was wrongly identified by Watson and he was reinstated in the squad yesterday. The Samoans, however, paid dearly for the brawl, with six players unable to take the field yesterday because of the suspensions. They called in three local players to make up the numbers and were eliminated 24-5 by Australia in the quarter-finals.

Ah Chong felt his team were too harshly treated by the judiciary.

"In Chile, the Kiwis and Fiji brawled just 20m from where we were standing and it was far worse [than this]," he said. "They got away with a warning and one player (Fiji's Marika Vunibaka) got suspended. I think we should have been warned.

"They've just hung us out to dry. It's unfair to use us an example at this stage of the series."

Tietjens said New Zealand were considering appealing de Goldi's suspension.

Orene Ai'i's shoulder injury further complicated the matter for Tietjens. Ai'i and de Goldi could return home today or tomorrow.

De Goldi, according to officials, was the instigator of the brawl when he pushed a Samoan player in the face in his attempt to stop Seymour being punched. The fight then spread.

"I'm disappointed we got involved," Tietjens said. "They have to learn to walk away from it."

He confirmed there was no further warning from the IRB, who had cautioned both New Zealand and Fiji for the brawl in the Chile sevens in early January.

Seymour retaliated with a punch after being late tackled by Fa'apito Matagitau after play had moved on. The two players wrestled and were soon joined by others in the teams and the fight deteriorated.

Seymour was remorseful later and felt he had let his team down.

Samoan players suspended for 12 weeks are Gaolo Elisara, Ron Fanuatanu, Ponali Tapelu, Fa'apito Matagitau, Maurie Fa'saualu.

New Zealand lead the IRB series with 138 points. South Africa is 2nd with 96.

The next round is in Malaysia this weekend.

- NZPA