Fijian Drua feeling the squeeze of new Super Rugby format

The Fijian Drua are warning the NSW Waratahs they may be fatigued but still hungry for an elusive victory when they finally arrive for Friday night’s Super Rugby Pacific “Culture Week” showdown in Sydney.

A touch deflated after letting late leads slip in both their opening two matches against the high-flying Hurricanes and Brumbies, the Drua’s disappointments have been compounded by an exhausting travel schedule.

The side’s troubles began before even making it to Napier from Nadi, via Wellington, for last Saturday’s heartbreaking 38-34 loss to the Hurricanes.

“We knew right from the beginning it was going to be a pretty interesting trip,” Drua coach Glen Jackson said on Tuesday.

“I don’t think we got all the favours landing in Wellington. We didn’t have a bus ready, unfortunately, and then even when we got to the hotel in Napier, we didn’t have a room ready.

“So there were plenty of things that went against us. Our preparation, that was not even our issue, but I know the players actually just got on with it.

“They were ready for the game and it showed in the scoreboard. We played some really good rugby, scored some beautiful tries and we bombed a couple of tries too, unfortunately.”

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins

3

Draws

0

Wins

2

Average Points scored

31

25

First try wins

60%

Home team wins

80%

It was a similar story in the round-one 36-32 home loss to the Brumbies.

“They’re preparing well, but just not finishing well,” Jackson lamented.

“Of course we’re disappointed. Both games we could have won and probably should have won in terms of where we were, especially on the weekend with four minutes to go.

“I think there’s a bit of an onus on our bench. I’ve talked to our bench. We had a really good bench on the weekend, and unfortunately, probably let that slip now.

“The boys played extremely well to nearly beat the best team in the comp, and just to let it go.

“The last sort of few minutes is not only frustrating, I’m sure for the fans, but more frustrating probably for our players.

“It would have been great to get a massive road victory.”

While the Drua have still taken great confidence out of the two near misses, Jackson knows beating the Waratahs to keep in touch with the competition leaders is vital.

“We’ve picked up two points out of the game, so it’s half a win, and we’ve just got to understand that this is a massively different competition to last year,” he said.

“The teams are unbelievably close. It’s going to be every point that you get is really important.

“We don’t want to be here just making up the numbers.”

With only a six-day turnaround between playing the Hurricanes and facing the Waratahs, the Drua are expecting more travel challenges.

They will arrive via Canberra this time around.

“We didn’t get into Wellington until two o’clock Sunday morning, then we’re flying here (to Fiji),” Jackson said.

“So we’ve had a short week and we’re certainly going to make some changes.”