There was no excuse for the two red cards issued against the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua in the gruelling Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific match against the Melbourne Rebels on Friday night.

This was according to head coach Mick Byrne who appeared disappointed while sharing his thoughts on the Drua’s performance following their 41-20 loss to Rebels in Melbourne, Australia.

What started as a promising night for the Fijian side quickly turned into shambles in the second spell when Frank Lomani and Jone Koroiduadua copped red cards on two different incidents.

The Drua’s fate was almost immediately sealed when Lomani was sent off for a deliberate foul as he elbowed the head of lock Josh Canham.

Koroiduadua joined him soon after for attempting a head-butt on Rebels hooker Alex Mafi.

“I think that was frustration and there’s no excuse,” Byrne said in a post-match press conference.

“I apologise for the people back home for the two red cards, its costly. We talk about it week in and week out, we need to do something about it, the players need to find it in themselves to fix their discipline if we want to get our season back on track.”

Frustrations boiled over as they were chasing the scoreboard and captain Meli Derenalagi pointed out discipline as a responsibility for each player to fulfil.

“When frustration comes in, it’s on us players to handle the pressure during the game, so we gave away some penalties and that’s a major focus for us in the next games ahead,” he said.

The incidents have quickly become a hot topic on various social media pages with rugby pundits giving their opinions, with some stating that an elbow to the head is not permitted in any contact sport including the UFC.

Some have even called for Lomani’s suspension from the game.