Drua must beat Queensland Country to keep Top 4 hopes alive

The Fiji Airways Drua side are in for a tough battle against Queensland Country on Saturday in the crucial round of competition of the Australian National Rugby Championship (NRC).

Queensland Country have found a lethal finisher in Fijian winger Filipo Daugunu who scored four tries against Greater Sydney Rams in Sydney last Saturday and is expected to set Churchill Park, Lautoka alight with his blistering speed.

Backing him up in the Queensland Country outfit are Fijian-born Wallabies winger Eto Nabuli, centre Veresa Mataitini and former Fijian Under-20 prop Kirwan Sanday.

Speaking to SUNsports yesterday, Drua head coach Senirusi Seruvakula said a win on Saturday is important as it would be their third home game and also boost their chances of a top four finish in the competition.

“The team will march into camp Nadi tomorrow and prepare for Queensland Country,” he said.

“I’m aware there are Fijian players coming with the Queensland Country team but I don’t think it would impact my team.”

The no-nonsense coach said all they need to do is to get their set pieces right and maintain the trust within the team in order to counter the opposition.

“There will be no inclusion of new players in the side as we want to maintain our contracted players who are part of the extended squad.

“I believe we need to push up with our performance in terms of how we play the game and improve on our discipline as we can’t afford to keep repeating the same mistakes all the time.”

Seruvakula said another aspect they’re looking at is to maintain possession throughout the 80-minute game and would enable them to follow their game pattern.

“However, as a result of Eroni Vasiteri’s suspension they will be a few players chosen to take over his position.

So we’re looking at bringing in Cyril Reece and Eroni Sau to fill the gap for Vasiteri who has been suspended for nine weeks.

I’m pleased that the side is injury free and we are set to go out and win on Saturday,” he added.

The match kicks-off at 3pm

Edited by Leone  Cabenatabua

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