The Swire Shipping Fijian Drua will need to do a lot of soul searching in preparation for their game next weekend. Drua captain Meli Derenalagi was lost for words last night as they went down to the Hurricanes 67 – 5.
“We never executed any of our plays well and we really have to work on them to regroup for the matches ahead.
“I will be hard on the boys tomorrow as we begin our preparations against Moana Pasifika next week and we really need to work hard,” he said.
“We should really start playing as if we are playing in the final”.
The Hurricanes played clinical rugby rugby right from the get-go.
The Drua players fought off the Hurricanes attack in the first few minutes before fullback Josh Moorby scored the first of his three tries in the 14th minute finishing off a well-executed backline move.
In the 18th minute livewire hooker Asafo Aumua scored the Hurricanes second try in the corner.
Inside centre Billy Proctor scored the home team’s third try after a brilliant run from Fijian winger Salesi Raiyasi.
In the 32nd minute, Josh Moorby ran a beautiful line similar to his first try.
The team lead the Drua 26 points to nil at halftime.
The Wellington based franchise started the second half with a bang with winger Wes Goosen scoring two tries in a span of 7 minutes.
Debutant Tyler Laubscher was a real menace to the Drua defence offloading to Isaiah Walker-Leawere who dived over for a try in the 5oth minute.
In-form winger Salesi Raiyasi showed individual brilliance breezing through the tackles of fullback KitioneTaliga and Kitione Ratu to score a try in the 57th minute.
In the 62nd minute, Billy Proctor ran in for his second try.
The Drua responded in the 66th minute through replacement centre Onisi Ratave shrugging off defenders with ease.
The conversion was unsuccessful by Caleb Muntz. Josh Moorby crossed over in the 71st minute for his third try while lock Justin Sangster barged his way through near the right-hand touchline.
Hurricanes flyhalf Aiden Morgan had a decent night with the boot slotting six out of 10 conversions. Captain and halfback TJ Perenara said that the team just stuck to the basics and ensured that they starved the Drua of possession.
Lineouts by the Drua were pretty decent with hooker Zuriel Togiatama pushing for selection in the coming games while they demolished the Hurricanes scrum and lead the competition in the number of scrums won.
The Drua will regroup tomorrow as they prepare to take on Moana Pasifika at CommBank Stadium in Sydney.
