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Fijian Drua only team to register win in Super Rugby W opening round
By Lucy Lomax
The Fijian Drua were the only Super W team to register an opening round win as the tournament kicked off at the weekend, beating the reigning champions Waratahs 23-17, and settling a score for revenge after grand final defeat last year.
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Eight second after the starting whistle blew, outside centre Vitalina Naikore made history by scoring the fastest try in Super Rugby Women’s history, to take the lead astonishingly early on.
This set up the strong performance for the Fijian Drua team as they were incredibly physical with strong scrum and lineout and also benefited from multiple penalties against a home Tahs team.
They away team dominated possession on the field with 70% for the majority of the game, going into half-time with a commanding 20-5 lead, thanks in part to a brilliant try from Josifini Neihamu.
The second half began with a burst of energy from the Waratahs, as Bridie O’Gorman quickly made her mark by scoring for her team and a Drua yellow card for a high tackle allowed the hosts to build some offence.
Centre Georgina Friedrichs who assisted a wonderful try for Maya Stewart earlier in the match, then scored herself in the last minute of the game, after quickly recovering from a thunderous hit in midfield, but it was too little too late.
The second match of the weekend saw Brumbies fly-half Faitala Moleka miss a last-minute penalty in her side’s 29-29 draw with the Western Force in Perth.
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In a thrilling finish Sammy Treherne scored a 79th-minute try to reduce the margin between the sides to two points, before Nicole Ledington slotted the touch line conversion to level the scores for the home side.
However, discipline let the Force down, giving away a penalty moments after the restart, handing Moleka the chance to win the game in the 81st minute, but the score remained level.
The Force started the match as hot favourites with Wallaroos recruits Allana Sikimeti, Sera Naiqama, Ashley Marsters and Cecilia Smith all named in the starting line-up, but it was the visitors who lead at half-time by four tries to two.
The second half lacked the entertainment of the first, and it wasn’t until the final few minutes that things started to open up, with Moleka’s after-the-siren miss proving to be the critical moment.
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