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Ill-disciplined Drua pummeled by Michael Hooper-boosted Waratahs

(Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images)

Wallabies captain Michael Hooper has made a successful comeback as the NSW Waratahs crushed an ill-disciplined Fijian Drua 38-14 to keep their Super Rugby Pacific finals hopes alive.

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Hooper played the entire second half in his first outing since suffering a foot injury in Australia’s spring tour loss to Eddie Jones’ England at Twickenham last November.

The champion openside flanker made an immediate impact but really didn’t need to as the Drua proved their own worst enemy at Cbus Super Stadium on Friday night.

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Are the Brumbies the team to beat in Super Rugby Pacific?

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Are the Brumbies the team to beat in Super Rugby Pacific?

The Drua spent half an hour playing a man short after their normally inspirational captain Nemani Nagusa was red-carded for a late and high tackle on Tane Edmed, then halfback Frank Lomani copped a yellow for a third illegal tackle.

The Waratahs punished the Drua immediately after both dismissals, piling on 24 points in the influential duo’s absence.

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The scores were locked at 7-7 when Nagusa was given his marching orders, after speed machine Vinaya Habosi’s lovely counter-attack strike cancelled out Dylan Pietsch’s 15th-minute try for the Waratahs.

But Hooper’s impressive fill-in No 7 Charlie Gamble capitalised on a NSW driving maul a minute barely after the Drua lost their captain and No 8.

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Hooker David Porecki and stand-in captain Jed Holloway also crossed while Nagusa was cooling off to give the Tahs a 24-7 lead that they would never relinquish.

Playing his first match for NSW since the final round of the 2020 Super Rugby AU season, after a stint in Japan with Toyota Verblitz before his injury, Hooper scored less than a minute after Lomani was yellow-carded.

From 31-7 down, there was no coming back for the Drua as the Waratahs climbed to fourth on the table, temporarily at least, before a bye next week, then a trip to Perth to play the Western Force.

– Darren Walton

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IkeaBoy 1 hour ago
Crusaders outlast fast starting Blues to reach another Super Rugby final

Very considered stuff, JW!


What I think is slippery is that they are essentially red carding based on ‘intent’ which was never really the case. It’s a tough ask to expect a ref to essentially physiologically profile a player, in-game. It should be a minimum at any level of rugby that a player wouldn’t deliberately be reckless or aim for a high degree of danger. Even with the guidance it’s still very subjective for refs. I’m not even sure if a full red has been dished out at test level since the new 20 min card arrived? It looks like they’ve forgotten they can still dish out a straight red.


WR are focused on sanctioning the dangerous act and dealing with it rather than working on removing the act itself. The big task is to remove the risky play rather than being consistent on carding it. It’s probably a coaching issue really and would take a while to bed in and have to work up from the age groups who are starting the game now.


Aki was a great example though. Short and stocky for a centre but he used to tackle high. He got red carded twice for Ireland but worked on it and I don’t think he’s had a problem since. Club or test level.


I agree with the ABs last couple of seasons. I don’t think they tackled any better or worse they just maybe didn’t keep up to speed with the law changes. I remember with Fozzie in the 2022 series, he didn’t even realise that hooking big Ardie in the second test would be a permanent change!


Verdict is still out on the 20 min reds but maybe it takes the next RWC to see if they are used or abused.

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