Focused is how FIJI Water Flying Fijians head coach Mick Byrne described his players in overcoming the changing weather conditions in Newcastle, Australia in the lead-up to their Test against the Wallabies this Sunday.
Weather conditions in the Newcastle area changed from stormy weather to fine weather and coach Byrne acknowledged his 32-men team for braving the elements.
“I said to them today (yesterday) I was very proud of the way they presented themselves on Wednesday,” he told The Fiji Times.
“I’ve been in lots of teams where we’ve had that sort of wind and rain, and teams have lost their focus and our boys, our men here just stayed really focused and got the job done.
“Even though the wind was pretty heavy in the rain, but the boys stayed really focused and as I said to them today (yesterday) though, I was proud of the way they did that and they should be proud of themselves, the way they prepared on Wednesday (three days ago).”
Rough weather conditions had plagued the Newcastle area earlier this week, which caused a disruption to services and inflicted damage on infrastructure.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology had issued a severe weather warning for multiple parts of the east coast, where Newcastle is located, stating destructive winds and heavy rainfall were forecasted.
As Byrne is pleased with how the 32-men team have been acclimatising themselves to the temperate weather conditions, it comes as the final match-day 23 has been announced for the highly-anticipated fixture between the two teams.
He and team manager Paula Biu made the announcement yesterday afternoon.
The Test kicks off on Sunday at 3.30pm at the McDonald Jones Stadium.
