Fijian Drua sits in a disappointing 10th place at the bottom of the Super Rugby Pacific standings.
Photo: Joshua Devenie / www.photosport.nz
Opinion – Five years in Super Rugby Pacific is a long time to try out, learn and consolidate.
Unfortunately, the Fijian Drua, like Moana Pasifika, have continued to show they are far from being ready to be part of ‘the big boys club’.
Saturday’s poor showing against the NSW Waratahs in Suva – in front of their fans – just showed what the Drua story has been.
Hot and cold, lukewarm. They just do not have the “killer instinct”, if I may borrow Bula FC head coach Stephan Auvrey’s words.
Too many mistakes, not enough showing that they are tracking correctly.
It might be a good point for Flying Fijians head coach Senirusi Seruvakula to seriously look at.
Are the Drua players even ready to step up and play international rugby against the top tier teams at the upcoming Nations Championship?
If that is the way they are going to be performing in the first-half against Wales, England and Scotland, then they might as well just stay to play Skippers Cup on the local domestic scene.
Poor is an under statement, simply because they were just out of shape, out-thought and out-played on the day.
They had six tries scored against them in a space of 40 minutes – a try every six minutes.
Drua head coach Glen Jackson told reporters post-match he could not understand what happened, why the team was not able to get into the game as they had planned.
Did they under estimate the Waratahs because their visitors were missing some big names? Or did they just lost the appetite because they were off relaxing the week they were on a bye?
Five years is a long time to be testing, learning and trying to fix things.
The comparison with other Super Rugby Pacific teams that they have been in the game longer does not hold ground.
Four months of playing against Wallabies and All Blacks-capped players on a week-in and week-out basis during the last five years were enough to give Drua players, like those from their brother club Moana Pasifika, the time to gain the experience and move on.
Instead, it appears there is no learning, no progress, at least consistently.
Win this week, get well-beaten the next.
They managed to win their first away game since 2022 when they defeated the Brumbies in Canberra.
Then they lost to the Chiefs in Christchurch, defeated the Highlanders in Ba and got beaten by the Waratahs over the weekend.
With hardly any consistency, the side sits in a disappointing 10th place, near the bottom of the Super Rugby Pacific standings in the company of a struggling Moana Pasifika.
So what can they take out from Saturday’s performance?
Mental toughness
Preparation for any game, in whatever sport, requires mental toughness as well. The mind has to be right, focus locked in 100 percent.
Drua players showed on Saturday they were nowhere near that and could not get into the game in the first 40 minutes.
Yes, they did score a try through die-hard prop Mesake Doge and they did come back in the second 40. But they were not focused from the word go and paid dearly for that.
Key moments not taken
This relates to having the mental toughness. When your mind is focused on the job at hand and what needs to be achieved, making the right calls at key moments comes automatically.
Co-captain Temo Mayanavanua pointed to that in his post-match interview and said they were not up to bar and the pace set by the Waratahs.
Disconnection
Mayanavanua also pointed to the disconnection between the players as a key factor to their loss, adding when under pressure the players went individually, instead of staying as a unit.
The early pressure from the Waratahs saw that play out for the local side, and in the end that stacked heavily against them.
“We’re just trying to calm everyone down… when we fall into those pressure moments, there are certain players that tend to drift away,” he said post match.
Respect
Jackson was critical of the team’s start, adding that was not the way the team had trained and prepared to start.
“The first 20 minutes is not what we trained,” he told the media after the loss. He questioned whether his players might have underestimated the opposition.
If that was the case then the team will need to learn quickly never to do that to any team.
Finishing
It still remains a key weakness for the side. That comes down to the players being discipplined, patient and making the right options with the ball in hand. The killer instinct needs to be a top focus, getting the ball over the line and claiming the points.
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes continue their lead at the top of the points table with an impressive showing against the Blues at Eden Park on Saturday.
The 47-24 win snapped a six year losing streak, scoring seven tries in the process.
They are five points clear off the Chiefs, who are on second spot, the the other teams in the top four being Blues, Crusaders, Brumbies and Reds.
Round 14 results
- Chiefs 42 Highlanders 12
- NSW Waratahs 50 Fijian Drua 35
- Hurricanes 47 Blues 24
- Western Force 19 Queensland Reds 14
Round 15 draws
- Crusaders v Chiefs, Friday 22 May, 7:05pm
- NSW Waratahs v ACT Brumbies, Friday 22 May, 9:35pm
- Moana Pasifika v Queensland Reds, Saturday 23 May, 4:35pm
- Hurricanes v Highlanders, Saturday 23 May, 7:05pm
- Western Force v Fijian Drua, Saturday 23 May, 9:35pm
