Swire Shipping Fijian Drua head coach Mick Byrne is optimistic about his team’s chances in the upcoming match against the Highlanders this weekend.
With a recent 28-19 victory over the Queensland Reds in round 13, the Drua have moved closer to the Highlanders who are currently seventh on the Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific standings.
Byrne believes that a win in the next match could potentially see them leapfrog the Highlanders in the standings, putting their destiny back in their own hands.
He commended his players for their performance against the Reds and emphasized the importance of carrying that same mind-set and performance into the upcoming match against the Highlanders.
“I trust the players, I saw today (Saturday) when we arrived here, I can see in their eyes that they know what’s at stake and they came out and did what they had to do,” said Byrne.
“We will enjoy and celebrate, we’ll get around each other, recover well then come in back on training for our road trip.
“The team will have a full week of training before traveling to Dunedin to face the Highlanders on Sunday.”
Byrne expressed confidence in his players and their ability to rise to the occasion, mentioning they needed to maintain their strong line-outs, scrums, and carrying to secure a positive result. Meanwhile, in other results over the weekend, the Blues defeated the Highlanders 47-13 to move to the top of the point’s standings, the Brumbies beat the Crusaders 31-24 and the Western Force overpowered the Waratahs 27-7.
