Fijian great Nadolo slams treatment of Drua players on NZ trip
March 7 (Reuters) - Former Fiji international Nemani Nadolo has slammed Super Rugby organisers after logistical foul-ups dogged the Fijian Drua on a recent trip to New Zealand to play the Wellington Hurricanes.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Thursday that the Drua players were forced to jump into a truck hired to transport the team's baggage and equipment after their bus failed to turn up at the airport just before midnight on February 21.
The following day, the newspaper reported, the Drua players -- but not those of the Hurricanes -- were forced to check out of their hotel hours before the kickoff of the match in Napier, which they lost 38-34.
"Bear in mind every Super Rugby side that comes to Fiji will get police escort everywhere they go," Nadolo, a world-class winger who played 30 times for his country, wrote in a post on X beneath a picture of the Drua players in the baggage truck.
"Yet this is a picture of a Super Rugby side that's sitting at the back of a truck going to their hotel in NZ.
"How is this even happening? Can you imagine if this was an Aussie or a NZ franchise side? Driving in the back of a truck at midnight after showing up to the airport to find out your team bus wasn't there. Please tell me this a joke?"
Fijian-born former Wallabies winger Lote Tuqiri also weighed in, telling Australian Associated Press that the mistreatment of the Drua players was "unacceptable".
"You can't expect a team to be treated that way," Tuqiri said.
"They're not an under-11s or under-12s team ... they're a professional outfit and they should be treated accordingly."
Fijian Drua made the issues known to Super Rugby management, who said they had launched an immediate review.
"Several oversights and breakdowns in communication were identified which unfortunately created additional challenges for the Drua," chief executive Jack Mesley told the SMH.
"Those issues have now been addressed with the clubs and an external transport provider. While it is disappointing to have these issues arise in our competition, it has given us the opportunity to assess and refine our team travel processes moving forward."
The Drua are unlikely to have any similar issues this weekend as they host the competition-leading Waikato Chiefs in Lautoka on Saturday.
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