‘Drua Players Delivered, Showed Maturity At Internal Trial Match’
The Swire Shipping Fijian Drua head coach Mick Bryan is happy with his men’s maturity in delivering what is expected of them.
Bryan made the comment after the 40-member squad was split into two sides for an internal trial match at the Ballina Rugby Union Club in New South Wales Australia on Monday.
The trial had to set the platform for their Super Rugby Pacific debut following their cancelled match against Western Force last month.
“It was a good hit out – I’m happy with the way we played today (Monday),” Bryan said yesterday.
“This is a great opportunity to come out and see the players; these are a very talented group of young players who have been working hard to get here,” he said.
“We wanted to see what they are capable of, to see what they can do when they are in a little bit of pressure.
“They delivered and showed maturity during the trial; the players did some very good things today, it’s pretty exciting for us moving forward.
“It is good to see some of the young players showing good game sense and knowledge.
“It was tough in the sense that they went after each other.
“They had a lot of energy during the game; they have been gearing up for 12 weeks to play a game.
“Look, we understand perfectly the situation.
“These boys have been away from their family and it is not an easy thing to do.
“The first 30 minutes was a hectic one because we didn’t follow our game plan.
“We just went out and played our game and started to find our way back into the game.
“It took a while but they quickly adapted to the game plan.”
The team will now have a good recovery time before they play their first game.
“I always look forward to new challenges when the competition starts.
“It will be a good thing for us to get down and recover before we go down to Melbourne to play.”
The Nemani Nagusa- captained side play Melbourne Rebels in their warm-up match on February 10 before they take on the New South Wales Waratahs in their Super Rugby opener on February 18.
“They are now buzzing in Waratahs, in Sydney as the previous draw the boys were to have played in Auckland but now it is in Sydney against the Waratahs,” he said.
“We are excited to play here in Australia. I know it is going to be a big challenge but we are ready.”
Feedback: simione.haravanua@fijisun.com.fj
