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<\/p>\nFiji captain Waisea Nayacalevu has apologised for his \u201cinappropriate\u201d comment made at the end of his post-match press conference following his side\u2019s surprise 24-23 defeat to Portugal on Sunday. The Fijians squeezed through to the quarter-finals where they will meet England, but a tense press conference ended with Nayacalevu swearing in his native language.<\/p>\n
Fiji secured the sole losing bonus point that they needed to advance to the knockout stages, but a disjointed performance saw them draw criticism and questions were posed to head coach Simon Raiwalui and Nayacalevu.<\/p>\n
After their press conference came to an end, Nayacalevu appeared to whisper a swear under his breath that was directed to the media. As the skipper got up to leave, his coach even seemed perplexed that such a phrase would be uttered in a public forum.<\/p>\n
Fiji Rugby issued a statement in which they described Nayacalevu’s comment as “inappropriate and unbecoming” while clarifying the situation. “Flying Fijians captain Waisea Nayacalevu has asked for his sincere forgiveness through his actions for accidentally uttering in ‘I-Taukei’ improper language during the after-match press conference yesterday,” the statement read.<\/p>\n
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“Nayacalevu who has played 37 tests for the Flying Fijians said the comment was not directed to any particular fan but to a Fijian journalist who has a traditional relation as \u201cTauvu\u201d {special traditional competitive relationship}.”<\/p>\n
Nayacalevu explained: “I would like to sincerely apologize for the incident. I\u2019ll be honest with one and all. That phrase was directed towards my Fijian friend, ‘My Tau’, who\u2019s part of a Fijian media team covering the Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n
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“I was under the impression that the mic was disabled thus uttered it unintentionally for which I express my deep and utmost regret. As the captain of Flying Fijians, my actions are intolerable to the values of the game.”<\/p>\n