Most of the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua players have grown up with the champion Crusaders being their favourite team but this Saturday the “red jersey will be the wrong colour jersey”.
That’s the message from Drua head coach Mick Byrne as he prepares his team to do the impossible “possible” and beat the 11-time Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific champions at Churchill Park in Lautoka.
The Drua, only into their second season of the competition, face a mammoth task of trying to tackle a team that epitomises what New Zealand rugby is all about — grit, power and rugby prowess.
Byrne, a former New Zealand All Blacks specialist coach who helped the side clinch back-to-back Rugby World Cup titles in 2011 and 2015, knows too well what the Crusaders will bring to the game.
“The thing with our boys is they’ve got to believe in themselves first. When I talked to our players last year, a lot of them had their favourite players in the opposite team and I’m like, ‘well, can you just wait until after the game to get their autograph?’ So we experienced a whole sort of dilemma,” the man nicknamed ‘Mick the Kick’ said.
“Now that they’ve gone out and played against them last year, this year that red jersey is the wrong colour jersey. So we’ll be going after them.
“We understand that we need to go out there and be physical with them and take them on.”
Both teams come into the match with a win and a loss.
The Drua beat Moana Pasifika 36-34 and went down 17-46 to the Waratahs.
The Crusaders lost to the Chiefs 10-31 but bounced back to beat the Highlanders 52-15.
After watching the Crusaders in Melbourne last week, Byrne said the Christchurch-based side would be ruthless after dropping the game against the Chiefs.
He hopes his players will not shy away from the physical contest the Crusaders will bring.
“The thing for us is we don’t expect them to be anything other than what they have been for the last 10 years and they’re Super champion for a reason,” he said.
“Our goal is to go after the game physically from the start.If we can keep 15 (players) on the track then we’re in the game. That’s our goal.”
The match kicks off at 3.35pm.
The Crusaders team arrived into the country last night.
