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Wed 23 Apr 2014 | 11:28
Midweek Madness - Player falls to floor after worst fight ever

32
Comments

This hilarious incident happened at the 3rd Annual TMO Marist American Samoa 7's in American Samoa, between villages Vaiala and Vailele. As you can see, tensions sparked a quick exchange between two players, with neither one landing a clean shot.

That didn't stop Simaika Mikaele, as he fell to the floor dramatically then rolled around to get the opposition player in trouble. Sadly for him referee James Bolabiu was right on hand, and thankfully took the whole incident with a pinch of salt, laughing it off along with the rest of the players.

We don't know at what point Mikaele realised he looked ridiculous so played it up, but either way it shows just how crazy it is when players feign injury or dive to the floor when they clearly haven't actually been injured, and there has been no contact made.

Mikaele used to play Sevens for Samoa, and can actually be seen making a massive hit at the Hong Kong Sevens against New Zealand about four years ago in this archived clip.

He won't be too proud of what happened here though, unless it was all a joke from the start. The match looked to be played in good spirits anyway, so maybe he'll get away with it.

UPDATE: As stated by some of the comments below, and a few messages we've received, this was actually the Cup Semi Final in American Samoa, at the 3rd Annual TMO Marist American Samoa 7's.

Both teams fielded current or former Samoa players, but the match was played in good spirits and the altercation was light hearted.

Oneone Faafou is the name of the other player involved here (also a Samoan Sevens player), and according to all sources, Simaika Mikaele was actually joking the whole time, and the crowd loved it. Also, credit and thanks to samoanews.com who uploaded the video. 

Posted By: Grant Constable

32 Comments

  • drg
    10:44 PM 28/04/2014

    I do get that, but the point is, to go up in arms about how people have misinterpreted something that could be considered very localised is a bit daft.

    I've in the past had the pleasures of visiting many different 'local' teams clubhouses after a game and participated in their different 'after game drinking rituals', point being, although it is local to them/you/others, at the time it was not local and therefore unknown to myself/my team/other..others...

  • benny
    3:04 PM 28/04/2014

    Keep in mind that it's not international rugby but two villages. It is classic islander humour that you see plenty of during more casual games.

    I'm guessing the "bloody kiwi or aussie" (i'm one of them) point meant that even though we're not islanders (although technically we are), we can spot islander humour when we see it.

  • danknapp
    7:58 PM 27/04/2014

    Will you be referring yourself to OFCOM or should we do it for you?

  • danknapp
    7:57 PM 27/04/2014

    I'm going to be honest, if I'm browsing my internet in the toilet, it's not reading Rugbydump.

  • badge
    4:46 AM 25/04/2014

    Its a joke guys, and a pretty funny one if you ask me. We've all seen videos of rugby fights involving the Island nations, and they definitely don't go like this.

  • drg
    11:42 PM 24/04/2014

    Hardly over analysing, more just going on the video evidence at hand.. None of us are inside Mikaele's noggin, so none of us are in a perfect position to say what he thought, but it's easy to see a player take a swipe then another player hit the deck..

    RD already provided the link but here it is again - http://www.rugbydump.com/2009/01/801/tom-james-suspended-for-headbutt-on-olivier-azam is this just a joke too that perhaps the referee didn't get either? Or are we over analysing that too?

    For the record, pathetic insults are more common on Youtube than RD (Fortunately).

  • nzbougnat
    10:50 PM 24/04/2014

    Thanks Eddie. I figured that much. :-)

  • drg
    7:11 PM 24/04/2014

    If this was actually 100% all done in a joke then I am all for it, but you 'islanders' can hardly be surprised that the rest of us initially (or still do) doubt your 'typical island humour' considering this is probably the first example of this 'humour' we have ever seen from a nation which has had an international rugby team for almost 90 years... I mean it's hardly 'typical' as far as the rest of the world is concerned, so there is really know need for all these shocked reaction comments from yourselves (Samoans and other 'islanders')

    ... I noticed you mentioned that 'Bloody Kiwis' could tell the difference, which hints at it being a kiwi trait also... This, I highly doubt, basing it purely on the likes of Jimmy Cowan - a New Zealander - who I seriously doubt feigned injuries after incidents with other players purely for the shits and giggles..

  • rugbydump
    5:54 PM 24/04/2014

    Still not 100% convinced that the very first swat and face clutching was a joke, but it's great to hear all the feedback and satisfied to know that - according to some of you guys anyway - we got this one wrong.

  • samoanthai
    5:38 PM 24/04/2014

    unless they're Samoan bro...or from any other island...we might seem to have bad intentions...but thats our weird sense of humor...just sayin

  • 5:03 PM 24/04/2014

    obviously lebron and ronaldo aren't samoan...so to answer your question....no they aren't...this is just typical island humor...a tongan, a fijian a bloody kiwi or aussie could tell the difference...

  • eddie-g
    4:02 PM 24/04/2014

    Rugbydump caused the injury, need to be referred to the citing commissioner

  • eddie-g
    3:04 PM 24/04/2014

    No you aren't...

  • finedisregard
    2:09 PM 24/04/2014

    Well I guess the joke is on me. I can't tell the difference between someone flopping for a ref when they get slapped then trying to play it off and Samoan humor.

    Now my question is are Lebron James and Cristiano Ronaldo purveyors of Samoan humor too? They go down for much less than this!

  • drg
    1:43 PM 24/04/2014

    The only thing is, you cannot rely on a crowd reaction to = the right judgement. Look at things like previous England v France internationals (In France where the crowd get very involved) where there has been a TMO decision and the video clearly shows it to be a no try, the crowd still boo.

    Although the crowd might be laughing, the referee might be laughing and even the other players, there is no guarantees that Mikaele didn't genuinely attempt to get a penalty from the situation..

  • guy
    11:10 AM 24/04/2014

    Actually Dan, I had to watch the video twice because at first I had difficulty believing what I saw. Only when I started taking notice of the reaction of the crowd I was completely sure that he was taking a piss. That crowd would have reacted quite differently otherwise.

    To make a long story even longer by adding another sentence: I can understand your (and my own) confusion.

  • nzbougnat
    11:00 AM 24/04/2014

    Nah. I say let people guess . And read the comments. In fact, I find that reading the comments, for better or worse admittedly, adds value to a great vid!

  • nzbougnat
    10:56 AM 24/04/2014

    Hence the beauty of smartphones/tablets and wifi at home in the toilets (I am obviously the only deranged soul doing this...)

  • danknapp
    9:59 AM 24/04/2014

    Can we get him banned for causing injury to the head?

  • danknapp
    9:58 AM 24/04/2014

    My head hurts.

  • danknapp
    9:50 AM 24/04/2014

    I've got around that particular dilemma by doing both every time I go on a forum.

  • danknapp
    9:49 AM 24/04/2014

    Nobody doubts Samoan culture - arguably one of the most powerful identities in World rugby - but it wasn't immediately obvious to me if it was a joke or not. I shall hang my head in shame at my sense of humour fail...

  • drg
    12:55 AM 24/04/2014

    Evidently not, especially if they don't feel that they're in on the joke... Someone tells me this is a joke and yeh, I'll join in by pissing my pants. Someone tells me this is serious and I'll shit myself in anger - Either way I won't get it unless I'm informed and I obviously have some digestive/urinary disorder...

  • drg
    11:40 PM 23/04/2014

    The shirt clash was far worse than the incident lol.. Glad to hear it's Samoa humour.

  • samoanteine
    11:34 PM 23/04/2014

    You're spot on. It's Samoan humour. The two teams are local and know each other well. Hence the laughs from both sides. Hardly warrants some comments from others about changing rugby culture. Samoans are as serious about our rugby as the next 1st tier nation. We are just able to make light of situations and have a laugh at ourselves :)

  • eddie-g
    10:31 PM 23/04/2014

    So I guess we have a consensus now... Samoan sevens guy pretends to be player faking an injury, and pre-eminent rugby blog believes he was really play-acting.

    Top work, Simaika.

  • nzbougnat
    8:22 PM 23/04/2014

    Far too hilarious to be a disgrace. Love it.

  • danknapp
    4:54 PM 23/04/2014

    I've watched it back, and I'm thinking you're right.

  • eddie-g
    3:57 PM 23/04/2014

    I reckon he's taking the mick. He's looking at the ref pretty much the whole time, and it is completely over the top in parts. I also like the idea of someone faking someone faking an injury... are Samoans into that sort of meta humour?

  • finedisregard
    3:21 PM 23/04/2014

    He wasn't joking, he was trying to draw a foul. I'm glad that the ref and crowd laughed at him. If the ref making the call had a bad angle and no tv somebody could have been sent off.

    When there is a zero tolerance policy towards striking the most beneficial thing to do is when you are hit is to act as you are injured when you are not (same thing for contact in the air).

    Be careful out there rugby friends. The culture of our game is changing very rapidly.

  • guy
    2:41 PM 23/04/2014

    If he'd played football he would have been stretchered off.

  • danknapp
    2:22 PM 23/04/2014

    I have no idea what to make of this... If that really was a dive, rather than just messing around from the very beginning, then he should have been sent from the field. Just bizarre. I'm glad the crowd were laughing at him, but I hope it was meant to be a joke from the very beginning.

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