Back to business for Fijian Drua after win against Hurricanes

The team continue to pay no mind to doubters, tying loose ends from previous rounds to secure their first win of the season.

Struggling in areas of execution and consistency in earlier matches, Drua’s weekend performance delivered a tremendous improvement.

After sealing the 25-20 victory over one of the competition’s favourites, the Hurricanes, Drua captain Frank Lomani told reporters post-match about how the side blocks out external noise.

“We don’t really care about what people say. Those are just outside noise … and that doesn’t change the way we turn up everyday.

“We turn up, we train, we still represent Fiji… we just play to our game plan and make sure we execute it,” and against the Hurricanes Lomani says “that’s what it looks like when we do exactly what we say we are going to do.”

Drua head coach Glen Jackson backed Lomani and praised the half-back for his leadership.

Fijian Drua captain Frank Lomani. Photo/Facebook

“I think we were unbelievably well led… and I was just really proud of the boys, it’s not easy when you start 2-0 and just to have some belief that 80 minutes is around the corner.

“I think Frank Lomani epitomises what it’s like to be the Drua… and you can’t underestimate his performance today [Saturday] and how he got the victory.”

Despite the treacherous conditions of rain and a muddy field, Drua ultimately were the ones who adapted to the weather.

The homeside seemed unfazed by their 17-13 halftime trailing, as they scored the only tries of the second half through Tuidraki Samusamuvodre and Etonia Waqa.

Hurricanes held much of the possession, but handling errors in the wet conditions proved costly for the Wellingtonians.

Captain Jordie Barrett told sky sport the most difficult thing to do “for obvious reasons, was holding the ball.”

“We actually played a lot of the second half in the right end of the park but it was extremely hard to hold the ball and the Drua were very disciplined on defence and didn’t allow us too many entries into the corner.”

The Drua head into round four on a bye, while the Hurricanes regroup before they face the Warratahs on Friday. For more information on fixtures and results click here.