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Olympic champions and test stars named in Fijian Drua pre-season side

(Photo By Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Olympic gold medallists, Fijian internationals and a Kiwi playmaker have all been named to start for the Fijian Drua in their final pre-season hit out of the year.

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The Drua travel to Melbourne to face the Rebels on Thursday in what will be their first external pre-season fixture following their internal match last weekend.

The match will act as the expansion franchise’s last match before they kick their debut Super Rugby Pacific campaign off against the Waratahs in Sydney next Friday.

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In preparation for their season-opener, head coach Mick Byrne has named an extended squad to play the Rebels, featuring a 16-man reserves list.

Of those named in his starting team, four players – hooker Tevita Ikanivere, tighthead prop Samu Tawake, No 8 and captain Nemani Nagusa and halfback Simi Kuruvoli – are Fijian internationals.

Blindside flanker Meli Derenalagi is also a notable inclusion given his status as a gold medal-winner with the national Fijian sevens side at last year’s Tokyo Olympics.

Derenalagi’s fellow Olympic champion Napolioni Bolaca has also been included on the bench, but has missed a place in the starting lineup to New Zealand first-five Baden Kerr, who is the only non-Fijian player in the Drua squad.

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A further four Fijian internationals – hooker Mesu Dolokoto, prop Manasa Saulo, lock Chris Mnimbi and utility back Serupepeli Vularika – join Bolaca in the reserves.

The trip to Melbourne will be a return of sorts for two Drua players, with right wing Kitione Ratu a former member of the Rebels squad, while reserve flanker Joseva Tamani played for the Melbourne Rising in Australia’s NRC three years ago.

Kick-off for the match between the Drua and Rebels is scheduled for 6pm local time at Harlequin Rugby Club in Ashwood.

Fijian Drua team to play the Melbourne Rebels

1. Jone Koroiduadua
2. Tevita Ikanivere
3. Samu Tawake
4. Ratu Rotuisolia
5. Isoa Nasilasila
6. Meli Derenalagi
7. Kitione Salawa
8. Nemani Nagusa (c)
9. Simi Kuruvoli
10. Baden Kerr
11. Vinaya Habosi
12. Kalaveti Ravouvou
13. Apisalome Vota
14. Kitione Ratu
15. Selestino Ravutaumada

Reserves: Mesu Dolokoto, Timoci Sauvoli, Manasa Saulo, Chris Mnimbi, Te Ahiwaru Cirikidaveta, Peni Matawalu, Caleb Muntz, Serupepeli Vularika, Napolioni Bolaca, Rusiate Nasove, Joseva Tamani, Sorovakatini Tuifaglele, Viliame Rarasea, Leone Nawai, Vilive Miramira, Jone Tiko.

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1 Comment
i
isaac 1046 days ago

Remember the name Napolioni Bolaca....Super Rugby Pasific star...

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JW 4 hours ago
Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

I rated Lowe well enough to be an AB. Remember we were picking the likes of George Bridge above such players so theres no disputing a lot of bad decisions have been made by those last two coaches. Does a team like the ABs need a finicky winger who you have to adapt and change a lot of your style with to get benefit from? No, not really. But he still would have been a basic improvement on players like even Savea at the tail of his career, Bridge, and could even have converted into the answer of replacing Beauden at the back. Instead we persisted with NMS, Naholo, Havili, Reece, all players we would have cared even less about losing and all because Rieko had Lowe's number 11 jersey nailed down.


He was of course only 23 when he decided to leave, it was back in the beggining of the period they had started retaining players (from 2018 onwards I think, they came out saying theyre going to be more aggressive at some point). So he might, all of them, only just missed out.


The main point that Ed made is that situations like Lowe's, Aki's, JGP's, aren't going to happen in future. That's a bit of a "NZ" only problem, because those players need to reach such a high standard to be chosen by the All Blacks, were as a country like Ireland wants them a lot earlier like that. This is basically the 'ready in 3 years' concept Ireland relied on, versus the '5 years and they've left' concept' were that player is now ready to be chosen by the All Blacks (given a contract to play Super, ala SBW, and hopefully Manu).


The 'mercenary' thing that will take longer to expire, and which I was referring to, is the grandparents rule. The new kids coming through now aren't going to have as many gp born overseas, so the amount of players that can leave with a prospect of International rugby offer are going to drop dramatically at some point. All these kiwi fellas playing for a PI, is going to stop sadly.


The new era problem that will replace those old concerns is now French and Japanese clubs (doing the same as NRL teams have done for decades by) picking kids out of school. The problem here is not so much a national identity one, than it is a farm system where 9 in 10 players are left with nothing. A stunted education and no support in a foreign country (well they'll get kicked out of those countries were they don't in Australia).


It's the same sort of situation were NZ would be the big guy, but there weren't many downsides with it. The only one I can think was brought up but a poster on this site, I can't recall who it was, but he seemed to know a lot of kids coming from the Islands weren't really given the capability to fly back home during school xms holidays etc. That is probably something that should be fixed by the union. Otherwise getting someone like Fakatava over here for his last year of school definitely results in NZ being able to pick the cherries off the top but it also allows that player to develop and be able to represent Tonga and under age and possibly even later in his career. Where as a kid being taken from NZ is arguably going to be worse off in every respect other than perhaps money. Not going to develop as a person, not going to develop as a player as much, so I have a lotof sympathy for NZs case that I don't include them in that group but I certainly see where you're coming from and it encourages other countries to think they can do the same while not realising they're making a much worse experience/situation.

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