A battle is brewing in the Southern Zone Secondary Schools Rugby Union Vodafone Deans as Nasinu Secondary School prepares to take on Mahatma Gandhi Memorial High School in the under-18 final.
Successful from their semifinal outings last weekend, Nasinu and MGM will battle for supremacy this Saturday to determine the 2024 Southern Zone champion and who goes to the national quarterfinals as the top-seeded team.
They’ve met in the early stages of the competition in June where Nasinu emerged victorious 13-12 at Buckhurst Park in Suva.
Nasinu U18 head coach Mika Yasiyasi with a smirk in his face said they have a lot of respect for their opponent.
“MGM has long proven themselves as U17 southern zone champions, we respect them,” he said.
A team that bases its performance on speed, continuity and timing, Nasinu while wary is focused on what they need to do.
“We will play according to our game plan, and we will also do our part in studying our opponent and doing our homework, we will come out fresh against MGM. We also wish them all the best in their preparation,” Yasiyasi added.
Reflecting on last week’s performance, Yasiyasi is mindful on his team’s discipline in defence which saw two of their players red carded for dangerous tackles.
“Firstly, we will work on out tackle alignment. It was our defensive system that caused us to play with 14 men after just 20 minutes and that was our casualty during defence. We must train that defensive system this week leading up to the final. Attacking wise we are good, but defence needs a lot of attention.”
The Southern Zone finals will be held on Saturday at Buckhurst Park in Laucala Bay, Suva.
