We’re all excited with the performance of our Fiji Airways Fijian Drua rugby side in the Australian National Rugby Championship (NRC) competition.

Making their debut against Brisbane City, the John Stewart captained-side left it to the last minute as they went down 45-36. And added to their woes was the suspension of first choice hooker Samu Suguturaga.

But the Fijian Drua side regrouped and with a few positional changes made by head coach Senirusi Seruvakula did the trick when they bounced back to score a convincing 45-24 win over Melbourne Rising last Saturday.

According to NRC statistics, the Fijian Drua, a side consisting of local based-players, have done well after two rounds of competition. These are summarised below:

             Try Scorer- 13 tries (1st)

             Attack- 1359 metres (1st)

             Carries- 259 (2nd)

             Defenders Beaten- 65 (2nd)

             Kicks from Hand- 30 (2nd)

             Tackles- 262 (3rd)

The statistics have also indicated areas they need to work on as the competition moves on. These are; discipline and defence. Statistics on these areas are as follows:

             Yellow cards- 2 (1st)

             Penalties conceded- 21 (2nd)

             Missed tackles- 69 (2nd)

So far not a bad start for the Fijian Drua, who on Saturday will need all the support they can get to win their first NRC home game and also improve their standings on the points table.

The onus is now on us the local rugby fans to be at Lawaqa Park in Sigatoka to cheer on our boys as they take on NSW Country Eagles. The Eagles went down to NRC points table leaders Greater Sydney Rams 44-23 and are hoping for a win in Sigatoka to keep their campaign on track. They are going to rope in Australian Wallabies and Super Rugby players like Thomas Staniforth, Silatolu Latu, Paddy Ryan, Andrew Kellaway and Ned Hanigan.

But we can deny them a win, if we only come out in numbers to support our Fijian Drua side. Our presence is going to a big boost to our players who with the support of Fiji Airways have defied all odds with their remarkable performance in their two away matches.