Albert Tuisue

The club have also reported the incident to Instagram and have given their full support to Tuisue who is the latest player to be the target of social media abuse prompting rugby union to join the recent blackout of social media to highlight the problem.

The London Irish statement said: “Following our Gallagher Premiership Round 18 fixture against Newcastle Falcons on Saturday, which resulted in a 52-27 defeat, one of our players, Albert Tuisue, received a racially abusive and threatening message on his Instagram account.

The cyclone caused catastrophic harm with dozens killed and many left homeless, including the parents of Tuisue, the back row who gave up a career as a police officer to come to London in 2019.

The 26-year-old, who has been capped seven times by his country, has become an integral part of Declan Kidney’s team, appearing in all 13 of Irish’s Premiership matches so far this season. 

In an appeal promoted on the club’s website, Tuisue explained: “This is the strongest cyclone there has been with winds up to 225km per hour and the impact has been disastrous.