Bula
SODELPA has called on the Coalition Government to call an inter-party meeting as soon as possible. It says it isn’t happy with some decisions been made by the Government. That’s the big story on the front page of The Fiji Times for Monday, June 12.
Reflections
What a night that was! The Fijian Drua may have succumbed to Super Rugby giants the Crusaders on Saturday night in Christchurch, however, it is difficult to cast them aside as just another side.
We may have lost the right to advance through to the semi-finals, however, there can be no doubts about the impact of the Drua on the Super Rugby Pacific competition, and understandably, the impact the competition has had on the game here in Fiji.
When Moana Pasifika rolled their mauls against the Drua at Churchill Park, and ate up yards, and scored tries, Drua coach Mick Byrne went back to the drawing board, and worked on a defensive system for the rolling maul.
The Reds saw that when we met at the National Stadium in Suva a week later.
Mick’s work is now cut out. Work out a counter for teams that will fall back on their set pieces to nullify our strength in broken play.
Now that isn’t going to be a walk in the park. But if you know Mick, you know he will be working on something and we will see the fruits of that labour next season.
Because when push comes to shove, and we are left staring at a blank wall against a team that has a very strong scrum and lineout, there has to be a point of difference.
The Crusaders learnt from their shocking loss to the Drua at Churchill park earlier in the competition. They went back to the drawing board, worked out their mistakes and weaknesses, and nullified the effectiveness of the Drua’s strength by focusing on the basics.
And that meant dominating the set pieces.
It meant stabilising their scrums, asserting their presence in the lineouts, keeping the ball close to their pack, maintaining possession, and chewing up the clock.
In essence it was about asserting authority in the main facets of the game, and actually controlling the tempo of the game.
That called for discipline throughout the Crusaders side.
There were lessons for the Drua who can be proud of the fact that there are still teams in the competition who have never done what they have done, despite playing for years longer than the Drua.
On the homefront, fans will reflect on the overwhelming spirit of goodwill, and of joy whenever the Drua hosted top sides here.
The Drua have earned the respect of thousands of fans who are now connected to everything about them.
There is a special attachment to the side that is actually refreshing for the sport here.
If there is something that should stand out of this quarter-final foray by the Drua, it will have to be the historic fact that we did so in just our second season.
Fans will hope that it reflects positively on our Rugby World Cup campaign later this year in France.
In fact we wonder why the governing Fiji Rugby Union hasn’t looked to Byrne to assist national coach Simon Raiwalui. We mentioned this as the season progressed this year.
Think about it.
Byrne came in and set up a team of unknowns last year, took them to the Super Rugby Pacific competition, lost many games, and won just two in the first season.
He drew from the domestic competition, blooded youngsters in one of the toughest competitions in the world, and carried them into the second season where they reached the quarter-finals.
You can think about Drua stars who are now basically household names, after just two seasons.
Now imagine Byrne with the luxury of star players at his disposal! A trainer of rugby players? Talk about patience, belief in systems and processes!
What a journey it has been! What a season, and what joy the Drua have given their fans and Fijian rugby! We say thank you for the memories!
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