Drua Must Lift Game, To Boost Ticket Sales
The Swire Shipping Fijian Drua players and officials must sacrifice their Easter weekend to prepare for their Super Rugby Pacific clash against the Blues at AAMI Park in Melbourne, Australia, on April 23.
This is an important match for the Fijians. An upset win or to even taking the Auckland-based side down to the wire, will surely boost the tickets sales of their Suva clash against the Highlanders on April 30.
After the Drua’s 33-12 loss to the Brumbies last Saturday, stand-in captain, Meli Derenalagi said, having a bye this weekend should help them work on their game before the Blues clash.
To play against the Blues is not easy. Our players must bring their A-game on the day.
The Blues are of a higher level, when compared to teams like the Waratahs, Force, Rebels, Reds and Brumbies who have beaten us so far.
Former All Blacks wing Jeff Wilson has ranked the Blues ahead of the Crusaders as the team to beat in Super Rugby Pacific.
Speaking on The Breakdown, Wilson listed the top five teams in his Super Rugby Pacific power rankings, with the Blues edging the Crusaders at the summit of his list.
It comes after the Auckland-based franchise kept the Chiefs scoreless for the first time in Super Rugby history when they beat their rivals 25-0 at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton last Saturday.
That victory, according to Wilson, was highly impressive and underlined the breadth of depth and quality throughout Leon MacDonald’s squad.
The former 60-test international added that, after that win, the pressure is now on the Blues claim the inaugural Super Rugby Pacific title after having ended their 18-year championship drought by winning Super Rugby Trans-Tasman last year.
“This was difficult, but I’m going to do it. Clearly it’s the Blues,” Wilson told The Breakdown while explaining why the Blues topped his power rankings.
“For you to go down to FMG Stadium, to take on the Chiefs in such good form… to see Beauden Barrett doing this (setting up tries), to see them defending the way that they’re defending, the pressure’s on them now to deliver on a title.
“That’s what the pressure is at. They delivered half a title last year. They’ve got their opportunity to deliver the full one. Their squad is strong. They’ve got Roger Tuivasa-Sheck coming back. Akira Ioane will be back. They’ve got depth, their young guys are stepping up, they’ve got everything they need to be a champion.”
Wilson’s claim that the Blues are currently the best team in the competition left the Crusaders in second spot on his power rankings, despite the Christchurch-based franchise having the same win-loss record as the Blues this season.
This is a big challenge for the Mick Byrne- coached Drua side.
Yes, we understand that it has been a learning process for the Drua especially in their debut year but we’ve got to realise that they need to start winning or at least be competitive, if they are to keep the hopes of their fans alive and the ticket sales of the Highlanders clash ticking.
