‘We are confident he has what it takes to fill in the role.’ This is according to Fijian Drua head coach Mick Byrne regarding FIJI Water Flying Fijians fly-half Teti Tela who is now likely to step in as the first choice number 10 during the Rugby World Cup, following a knee injury to Caleb Muntz.
“We are devastated that Caleb (Muntz) will miss out on the world cup given the circumstances and that he will also not be available for the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season,” he said.
Byrne added though this is devastating for the Flying Fijians, they are happy for Teti Tela, another Fijian Drua player, available to take up the fly-half position.
“We are confident he has what it takes to fill in the role, as he did in the same position last season in Super Rugby competition.”
The 32-year-old had been Bryne’s first choice fly-half in the Super Rugby Pacific competition this season, in which he played 14 matches having started in 12 of them.
Tela has donned the black and white jumper seven times, having debuted for the winning Flying Fijians side against the Barbarians during the November tour in 2019.
Before joining the Fijian Drua, Tela was also capped Queensland Reds four times in the then Super Rugby competition for two seasons during the 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 seasons.
He has so far scored 124 points for the Fijian Drua and 18 points for the Flying Fijians.
Fiji play Wales at 7am on Monday.
