Samoa coach Seilala Mapusua accused Rugby World Cup referees of ‘unconscious bias’ against the smaller nations.
Responding directly to a question about the number of penalties in the game – Samoa penalised 14 times to England’s nine – he suggested that referees have an ‘unconscious bias’.
He also refuted claims that his stars had to get used to the decisions of ‘elite’ referees.
Mapusua said: “The guys in the blue jerseys play in the same tournaments as the guys in the white jerseys.
“Maybe referees need more time with referees. Do referees have an unconscious bias when tier two sides play tier one sides? A lot of the guys are [club] team-mates.
“I believe there is [unconscious bias]. I believe there has been in the past. I don’t think it’s anyone’s fault; it’s what I’ve seen in our game for I don’t know how many years; since I was playing.”
