FACING familiar faces will be high on the list for Issak Fines-Leleiwasa when his former club, the Western Force, clashes with the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua this Saturday.
Fines-Leleiwasa, now playing for the Drua, faces his former teammates in round nine of the 2026 Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific competition.
In the previous clashes against the Drua, the scrum-half featured in all five appearances at home and in their away matches.
This time, if named in the Drua’s starting XV tomorrow, he will have to play a critical role in helping his team beat the Force at a time when home wins become necessary to ensure the Drua have an opportunity to land in Super Rugby Pacific’s top six sides for the play-offs.
At present, the Drua dropped to 10th place ahead of the Force following last Friday’s 26-69 defeat by the Crusaders.
Meanwhile, former teammate and Force hooker Nic Dolly told Times Sport in Auckland, New Zealand how the team was eager to see him on the field once more.
“I think a lot of the boys are very keen to get on with Finesy. He is such a great team man, as I’m sure you guys are finding out,” Dolly said during the launch of the Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific season in February this year.
Fines-Leleiwasa joined the Drua this year after departing the Western Force last season.
When his signing was announced by the club, the Fijian Drua did so with an artificial intelligence-generated video showing a man with dreadlocks sailing on a canoe, alluding to Fines-Leleiwasa.
In joining the team, his inclusion was expected to add depth and experience to a young backline, filling in the vacancy left by former Drua player Caleb Muntz, now playing for French Pro D2 club Provence.
The Fijian Drua meet the Western Force at Churchill Park in Lautoka at 4.30pm.
