NEWS ROUND-UP:CONTRITION MAY be going a little too far but Gloucester's runaway centre Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu has finally appeared before a rugby "court" in Auckland, sounding like the lawyer he is, and been granted the adjournment he had requested.

The Samoan will appear before Judge Jeff Blackett, the independent judicial officer, on Sunday. After failing to attend on Tuesday Fuimaono-Sapolu was banned from all rugby, meaning his career in the Premiership would have been in doubt. Now Gloucester can start planning on having him back sooner rather than later.

However, before he returns, Fuimaono-Sapolu, who trained as a lawyer in Auckland and still lives here, has to answer allegations that he accused the Welsh referee Nigel Owens of being racist and biased.

Yesterday the player spent 90 minutes pleading his case for an adjournment, saying he was making a trip to Samoa. He then appeared to soften his stance on the IRB and the World Cup organisers, saying he now expected a fair hearing. After failing to appear on Tuesday, Fuimaono-Sapolu was next seen on television, claiming to know nothing of the hearing.

Guardian Service