Brumbies head coach Stephen Larkham labelled the scrum as one of the areas the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua dominated during their round 11 clash in the Super Rugby Pacific competition at the GIO Stadium in Canberra, Australia.
The Drua had a 100 per cent success rate in the scrums, winning 12 of the put ins. The Brumbies had a 75 per cent success rate, losing one of their four scrums.
“The scrums were a huge battle, and it was sort of seesawed in both ways, mostly towards them to us,” he said.
“But however, our guys who later came off the bench in the second half made a lot of impact against the Drua.”
The home-side survived a narrow 28-20 win against the Drua and will be facing the Waratahs this weekend.
He also commended the visiting team’s aggressiveness at the breakdown, another area he said the Drua dominated throughout the match.
“Their contest at the breakdown was phenomenal as well, where they also put a lot of pressure with their line speeds.”
Larkham, one of the best flyhalves in the Wallabies history, said the tough battle against the Drua last week brought to light areas they needed to work on before taking on the Waratahs.
“So, for now we just got to focus on our game against the Waratahs, and we will learn from all our weaknesses against the Fijian Drua.”
Brumbies skipper Allan Alaalatoa shared similar sentiments with Larkham, but praised his side for their efforts in holding off the determined Drua side.
“Hats off to the boys just for hanging in there against the Drua,” he said.
“Playing such a tough game and being able to secure such a win at home is a big achievement for the boys.”
