Fijian Drua claim famous win, hand Crusaders third straight loss
Two winless teams met in the cauldron that is Lautoka to kick off Saturday’s epic slate of Super Rugby Pacific fixtures, with the Crusaders visiting the Fijian Drua.
It’s a fixture that was famously won by the Drua in 2023, but it was the Crusaders who had the last laugh that season, beating the Fijians 49-8 in Christchurch in the quarter-final en route to a seventh title in as many years.
It was the Drua’s day once more at home, with a roaring crowd celebrating another famous win for the side after a tight and tense 80 minutes.
The Drua were looking dangerous early as they broke the Crusaders’ line in the opening minute and a cross-field kick almost found the waiting arms of the lethal Selestino Ravutaumada.
The Drua’s early kicking game was ambitious but lacking execution on contestable efforts, but they did enjoy some quality exits.
The Crusaders were the first to land points, thanks to the boot of young first five-eight Taha Kemara, capitalising on a Drua indiscretion.
The reigning champions’ lineout continued to look uncharacteristically shaky but their scrum was dominant and a reliable source of momentum as they launched some disjointed attacks under the benefit of penalty advantage.
The backline found some cohesion to execute a superb lineout strike in the 20th minute, a play that saw centre Levi Aumua draw a crowd and then find Sevu Reece on the inside who showed blistering pace to burn the final defenders and score under the posts.
It was then a scrum penalty to the Drua that offered the home side their first chance at points, an opportunity which was converted by Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula.
The half-hour mark saw chaos unleashed with superb counterattacks from both teams foiled near each try line. Iosefo Masi was the instigator for the Drua while ball movement and pace from debutant Heremaia Murray found metres for the Crusaders.
Some superb vision from Frank Lomani gave Ravutaumada an inch of space on the wing which was all the in-form Flying Fijian needed, shrugging off the first tackle before stepping the second and third and diving over the line for a World-class finish that tied proceedings after the successful conversion.
The half ended with a missed penalty attempt from the Crusaders, leaving the score at 10 apiece.
Damp conditions contributed to some handling errors in the first half and didn’t take long to feature in the second. The Drua received possession after some strong defence and looked to double down on their upper hand in the collision area.
A couple of powerful counter-rucks to begin the second 40 also contributed to the Fijians’ momentum and a well-deserved try to Lomani put the home team in front.
The Crusaders had slowed the game down well after entering that deficit and looked to be building some momentum, but the Drua only needed a sniff and they launched a charge downfield.
Handling issues continued to be prominent as the game entered its final quarter and points were hard to come by.
A failed intercept over the try line almost saw Crusaders flanker Dom Gardiner steal a game-levelling effort with 15 minutes remaining in the contest. The referee ruled it a fair and realistic intercept attempt and awarded just a penalty.
The Fijians struggled to exit and ended up defending near the try line again shortly after, but the Crusaders again knocked the ball on in contact.
That man Ravutaumada got his hands on the ball and shredded the defence once more, getting his team beyond the halfway line before another run from the winger after a scrum made it well past the 22.
Execution continued to prove difficult in the conditions so in the 77th minute young Armstrong-Ravula stepped up to the tee and calmly extended his team’s lead to 10.
The Drua’s attacking ambition didn’t relent once that lead was cemented, hanging onto the ball and even putting in another cross-field kick which ultimately saw them penalised for an offside offence.
The team had done enough already though and saw the game out with a final scrum. Frank Lomani was awarded Man of the Match for a superb performance. Final score: 20-10.
Comments on RugbyPass
Who listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
40 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
40 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
39 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
1 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
40 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to comments