Unhappy Love blasts World Cup bosses

Tonga coach Jim Love has blasted World Cup organisers, saying they treated his team like ‘second-class citizens’ following the unfair scheduling Down Under.
And he has called for urgent help for smaller rugby nations for the sake of the tournament’s future.
The South Sea Islanders bowed out of the World Cup without a win after going down 24-7 to Canada at Wollongong last night.
But in a parting shot, Love branded the fixture system as ‘ludicrous’ and urged the International Rugby Board to take action or see the demise of the game.
‘The unfairness of a draw has been well publicised. To have players forced to play four games in 14 days is totally ludicrous, especially for a small nation like Tonga,’ he said.
‘What we saw in this last game was a tired team playing without an edge because most of them were playing with injuries and that was a shame.
‘I think most of the squad feel like they have been treated like second-class citizens at this World Cup and it’s pretty hard to coach a squad when they feel like that.
‘It would have been nice if players were allowed to join in the opening ceremony. That is a special occasion and it would have been nice to have felt a part of it, but for some reason we were ostracised.
‘The biggest problem, however, remains finance and will always be for Tonga. We only had two weeks to prepare for this competition compared to six months for the All Blacks.
‘In the future you wonder whether Tongan players will wonder whether it’s worth coming because of the financial commitment. It has been tough on them.
‘This is something the IRB must look at unless they just want teams like Tonga to stay at home and leave it to the big boys.’