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Fijian Drua claim first Super Rugby Pacific victory

Vinaya Habosi of the Fijian Drua breaks away from the defence during the round three Super Rugby Pacific match between the Fijian Drua and the Melbourne Rebels at Sunshine Coast Stadium (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Fijian Drua have trampled the Melbourne Rebels’ season further into the ground, coming from behind to claim their first Super Rugby Pacific victory.

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The newcomers trailed 14-0 and were a man down thanks to a yellow card before turning it on at Sunshine Coast Stadium in an historic 31-26 win.

Missing 14 men through injury and suspension, it was the biggest blow yet in a horror 0-3 start for Kevin Foote’s Rebels.

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The Drua made the most of it, overpowering the visitors and then adding some flair with three long-range tries either side of halftime.

Melbourne’s Ray Nu’u scored their fourth try on the buzzer, but four second-half penalties to replacement five-eighth Teti Tela took the Drua to safety.

Young Tonumaipea had a double for the Rebels but they were unable to exploit the Drua’s shaky lineout, dropping too much ball and falling off tackles as the Fijians ran hard.

Onisi Ratave scored his side’s first after Caleb Munz’s chip kick from broken pl ay, before Vilive Miramira streaked away from a contest for a match-turning try.

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Their confidence soared after that and a quick tap finally paid off for Peni Matawalu, who broke the line then offloaded for Apisalome Vota to score.

A fumble let Tonumaipea in for a second but the Drua kept their cool, three penalties inside kicking distance giving them breathing space.

“They played like a 15s team – it wasn’t sevens stuff,” former Wallaby Morgan Turinui said.

“From the 35th to 79th minute they dominated that game.

“Look at the Kings, Cheetahs, Rebels, Force, Sunwolves; any team that’s entered, nobody’s done it as well as the Drua have.”

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The win came with a majority of the squad in just their third Super Rugby game, and after two lop-sided losses to the NSW Waratahs and Brumbies for the Lennox Heads-based outfit.

And they had to go the long way to even get to their relocated home game on the Sunshine Coast after floods forced them out of Suncor p Stadium.

“Considering the impact that Fijian players have had on Australian rugby … I don’t think w e’ve sort of conceptualised how important that is for the game over there and for here,” former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika said on Stan Sport.

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3 Comments
i
isaac 973 days ago

Teti Tela and Frank Lomani if they can build on their combination from the Barbarians match in 2019 in this year's super rugby, Volavola (poor boot) might play second fiddle or miss out all together in Bolaca and Tuidraki can step up and show what they have. Tela's ability to manage the game which he did superbly until the 79min will only improve and he rightfully should get plenty of game time in the coming months. Drua starting to come together. Still early days but if they continue in this path, they should be primed up from round 5 or 6 onwards barring injuries

i
isaac 973 days ago

Kaliopasi Uluilakepa, if he improves just another 30 percent, he could be the next Taniela Tupou

Q
Qalo 974 days ago

Good performance Drua. Well Done boys..Keep improving and move on.

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That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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