Leaving Mount Manganui in New Zealand with a 31-47 defeat by the Chiefs following their Super Rugby Pacific pre-season trial match there yesterday, Swire Shipping Fijian Drua head coach Glen Jackson has commended the squad for their effort on the field.
The team pulled through a defiant Chiefs side and Jackson acknowledged the result handed to them by the home side.
“I’m really proud of the boys; we didn’t ease up in the week training-wise so we knew it would be a tough game in the heat and stuff like that, but I thought they played really well defensively,” Jackson said.
He also highlighted the performances of the new players such as Temo Mayanavanua, Virimi Vakatawa and Manasa Mataele.
“I thought our new players played extremely well; Virimi (Vakatawa) was good, Temo (Mayanavanua) outstanding and Manasa (Mataele) and Issac (Armstrong-Ravula) really brought in some good stuff.
“So to have a couple of young boys out there, like Harold (Rounds) was good.”
He commended them for the work shown on the field and the opportunity they had to put on the jersey for the first time.
The Drua trailed behind the Chiefs 21-33 at half-time, with tries scored for them by Motikiai Murray, Ilaisa Droasese, Joe Tamani and Iosefo Namoce.
Meanwhile, Jackson shared weaknesses in their discipline cost them greatly.
“I think just discipline around the goal defensively. Just some silly penalties that we’ll get out of the game but again, we worked hard on that,” he mentioned.
Meanwhile, the Fijian Drua return home and will face the Skipper Select side in the ‘Battle of Fiji’ match at Churchill Park in Lautoka next Friday, which will also be their second pre-season trial match.
