The Swire Shipping Fijian Drua side secured a spot in the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific quarter-final after a commanding 40-19 win over the Melbourne Rebels at Churchill Park in Lautoka yesterday.
Winger Waqa Nalaga was sensational, scoring two tries and earning the player of the match award.
Both teams started strong, ending the first half tied at 19-19. Drua scored first with Waqa Nalaga’s try but missed the conversion.
Rebels responded with a penalty try after Frank Lomani’s sin bin.
They capitalised on their advantage with Andrew Kellaway’s try and Jake Strachan’s successful conversion, and then extended their lead with Josh Canham’s try.
However, Drua fought back with tries from Ilaisa Droasese and Iosefo Masi, both converted by Isaiah Ravula, to level the score at 19-all.
Drua head coach Mick Byrne praised his team’s resilience.
“Full credit to the players today and full credit to Rebels for putting pressure on us but our players stood up and held on till the half time and showed the fans what this competition mean to us.
“The boys were great in the second half,” Byrne said.
Drua dominated the second half, thrilling the crowd with three tries scored by Selestino Ravutamada, Nalaga, and Frank Lomani. Isaiah Ravula successfully converted all three tries, further boosting Drua’s lead.
Byrne reminded his players at half time to elevate their performance.
“We came at half time feeling it, we trained for it, and I told the boys it’s time to take it up a notch and express themselves.
“Go and show yourselves how you play footy, and we did well in that second half,” he added.
Byrne also lauded young Nalaga’s performance.
“He is a young player still eligible for U20, he keeps coming up, coming in every Monday and keeps getting better each week. He is a tough young player, he runs hard, he scored two hard tries today.”
Despite making late changes, Byrne was impressed with the replacement players, particularly Meli Tuni, who replaced Samu Tawake and Livai Natave who replaced Haereiti Hetet at loosehead prop.
“Samu woke up with throat infection, so he was out of energy, so he made that call and Hetet had knee problem, it was tough for him.
“Full credit to Meli Tuni, he was fantastic. He only found out he was playing at 10am this morning,” Byrne said.
Although Lomani received a yellow card in the first half, Byrne commended his performance.
“Lomani did well, he created good turnovers for us and had some good quick taps, he kept the tempo going and that’s one thing needed in a high energy game,” Byrne said.
Meanwhile, Melbourne Rebels head coach Kevin Foote acknowledged their fans’ support and expressed optimism about their preparation for the quarter-finals.
“We thank our fans for their support. Quarter-finals are knockout rugby, and we will have a look at that but obviously there’s a lot of emotions in the group,” Foote said.
