The Swire Shipping Fijian Drua won the praises of many at Churchill Park in Lautoka yesterday but not so much as from Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan.
McMillan’s boys did enough to claim a home quarter-final for this year’s Super Rugby postseason, but not without a scare from the Drua.
The 35-34 scoreline warranted McMillan to sound warning bells to other teams of the threat the Drua will pose next season.
“I think if you ask anyone that knows anything about rugby, I think they (Drua) probably exceeded what we thought they would be in year one. And a blind man can see how they’re going to be moving forward,” McMillan said.
“(The match) was a bit tough on my heart, but what a great spectacle. This was an amazing experience for our whole squad to be here.
“They’re (Drua) a great inclusion in Super Rugby and are going to be very dangerous moving forward.”
Drua coach Mick Byrne said the players showed what they were capable of and why they deserved to be playing in the Super Rugby competition.
“In the last 15 minutes today, you can see what we can do.
“Now we will work behind the line better.”
The Drua players will end their 2022 campaign next week before returning in the second week of July for preseason training.
