THE Swire Shipping Fijian Drua cannot afford anymore slip-ups as the battle for a finals spot in the Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific heats up.
Round 10 sees Drua hosting Moana Pasifika in Lautoka, a team they’re levelled on 13 points with on the latest standing.
A win would surely keep the Fijian franchise in the top eight with head coach Mick Byrne making it clear that like any other team, they aspire to contend for and win the title.
This means that there is no room for anymore losses with only six regular matches remaining.
“Every game we play now is important, we are in the eight and we got to keep winning. Three away and three at home, now is a good time to start winning our away games,” Byrne stated.
This signifies the importance of this match against Tana Umaga’s men and the need to make use of all opportunities presented.
“The beauty of this competition is that we have bonus points that are part of your success and there’s points differential taken into it as well so, it means that as we head towards the end of the season now, we have to stay on, no matter where we are we have to make sure that if we are behind, we’ve got to get that bonus point or if we are in front, we have to maintain that status.
“Sometimes in general, if you’re in front of a team and you ‘re frighting for a finals positions, you don’t want to let them have a bonus point so, all those things are in play so that makes this game very important,” Byrne added.
Byrne also acknowledged that just like the Drua, Moana Pasifika has grown so much in just their third year in Super Rugby Pacific.
“We are very impressed with the way they’ve come on this year. They are a side like us, coming into our third year, our players are understanding a little bit more about professionalism, their diets, habits and conditions have improved, they’ve got bigger and stronger so in all that aspects of improvement you can see that Moana is the same.”
While their respect for each other remains intact, there will be no question about the intensity of the match as both teams will fight to maintain their position in the top eight.
That will be determined when the dust settles at Churchill Park in Lautoka on Saturday.
The match kicks off at 2.05pm.
