THE McDonald’s Fiji Drua Women produced a spirited second-half comeback to defeat the Western Force 29-24 in their round two Super Rugby W clash at Churchill Park in Lautoka yesterday.
The visitors made a strong start, capitalising on Drua errors to take control of the first half.
Western Force opened the scoring through loosehead prop Allana Sikimeti after a powerful forward drive, with halfback Samantha Wood adding the conversion for a 7-0 lead.
The Drua struggled to find momentum, committing handling errors and turnovers at crucial moments. The Force took advantage when Adi Vani Buleki crossed for their second try, with Wood again successful from the tee to extend the lead to 14-0.
Just before halftime, Drua winger Josivini Naihamu broke through the defence to score her side’s first try, although the conversion was missed as the Force led 14-5 at the break.
The Force continued their dominance early in the second spell, with Wood kicking a penalty to stretch the lead to 17-5.
However, the Drua slowly worked their way back into the contest. Litiana Vueti scored their second try before the Force responded through Wood, who crossed for a try and converted it herself to make it 24-10.
With the match slipping away, the Drua lifted their intensity. Varanisese Qoro crashed over for their third try and Vueti added the extras to reduce the deficit.
Momentum shifted completely when Aqela Raitubu scored under pressure and Vueti’s conversion levelled the scores at 24-24.
Backed by a vocal home crowd, the Drua continued to attack and were rewarded when Qoro grabbed her second try of the afternoon with 12 minutes remaining. Although the conversion was missed, the home side had done enough to edge ahead 29-24.
The Force threw everything at the Drua in the closing stages, but the hosts held firm with disciplined defence to secure a memorable five-point victory.
The win marks the Drua Women’s second-round triumph and an encouraging result in front of their home supporters.
