Unbeaten Hurricanes overcome ‘good test of character’ against Drua in Fiji

Hurricanes captain Brad Shields was almost lost for words after the ladder leaders overcame a “good test of character” with a 38-15 win over the Fijian Drua in Suva on Friday night.

With this being the Drua’s first home match at HFC Bank Stadium this season, the Hurricanes had to contend with a vibrant crowd on what looked like an incredible night under the lights in Fiji’s capital city.

But the Hurricanes, as commentator Greg Clarke mentioned, had “taken the crowd out it” before the break after running in four tries to the Drua’s one. Billy Proctor, Devan Flanders, Jordie Barret and James O’Reilly helped the visitors take a 21-point lead into the sheds.

It was an imposing deficit for the Drua but they looked to throw everything at their opponents early in the second half. The hosts finished the match with almost 2.5 times the number of carries compared to the Canes (158 to 65) which shows how hard they fought.

The Hurricanes had three players sent to the sin bin inside the final quarter of the battle, too, but managed to hang on for their eighth win from as many starts this season.

“I haven’t got many words after that. It was pretty crazy, awesome atmosphere. Just shows over here you’ve got to go right down to the 80^th minute,” captain Brad Shields said post-game.

“It’s a good test of our character and each week we talk about a new challenge and this was definitely one of them.

“We talked about it all week, it’s going to be the effort early,” he added.

“We didn’t think we’d be down to 13 but look it does show good character.

“The way we held it together on the try line there, the way we connected on (defence), I’m just really proud of our effort.

“It was an unreal challenge and it was good to come away on the good side.”

It was a frustrating night for the Drua and their supporters with the team coughing up possession in attack, and then being unable to prevent the Hurricanes’ clinical reply which resulted in points down the other end more than once.

In the 33^rd minute, the Drua knocked the ball on in the first phase off their own scrum. The Hurricanes took full advantage with Jordie Barrett scoring the visitor’s third try of the night less than one minute later.

The same thing happened off the following kick-off, with poor execution costing the Drua and eventually leading to a James O’Reilly try just before the half-time interval.

Even with a two-player advantage at one stage, the Dura couldn’t make the most of it. Captain Tevita Ikanivere, who had recently become a father for the first time, was visibly disappointed post-game.

“Against a quality side like this, we had the opportunity, we had it for the taking and we had about 10,15 minutes with 14 people and one with 13 men on the field,” Ikanivere explained.

“I think that’s why the Hurricanes are unbeaten. They pushed through and we didn’t take the opportunities, we didn’t go wide and we just wanted to go straight at them.

“We’ll go back to the drawing board and see and review and go again next week.”