Rugby padre Reverend Joji Rinakama says Naitasiri will need to lift the tempo of its game when it takes on Nadi in a Skipper Cup round 7 match at Prince Charles Park on Saturday.
Rinakama coached Naitasiri in the late 1990s and early 2000 before taking up the post of Flying Fijians assistant coach to the 2007 Rugby World Cup where Fiji reached the quarter-finals.
This weekend’s match will be a top-of-the-table clash between an undefeated Naitasiri side and a Nadi team going through its development phase.
Rinakama said Naitasiri would need to minimise mistakes and show discipline on the field.
He said Nadi would be tough with home ground advantage, advising the visitors to work on the basics of the game.
“It’s all about discipline, maintaining discipline whenever they are under pressure,” Rinakama said .
Naitasiri coach Ilaitia Tuisese, who played under the guidance of Rinakama, said playing against Nadi in their territory would be tough.
“It’s always tough playing against a champion team,” he said. “It will come down to the last minutes of the game. We will have to maintain our discipline because that has been an issue and since this is going to be our seventh game, we will have to work on our physical performance.” He said going back to the basics would be their main focus during training. “It’s just coming back to the basics of our game – once you get the basics right then we see how we want to play and how we will execute on our play, then we start to do things we couldn’t do in the past.”
Meanwhile, in other Skipper Cup matches, Suva travels to Burebasaga to face Rewa, a local derby sees Tailevu host Northland at Ratu Cakobau Park in Nausori while Namosi faces Nadroga at home at Thomson Park in Navua. All matches kick off at 3pm. || Skipper 1 || Dr Ilaitia Tuisese
