What's happening to the Drua? The losses are getting embarrassing

It was another heart-breaking loss for the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua at Sydney's Allianz Stadium in Australia last Friday night.

This has been happening for the third successive week, starting with the 32-36 loss to the ACT Brumbies, 34-38 defeat to the Hurricanes and coming out second to the Waratahs 24-29.

It's been the same old, same old story, going down in the final 10 minutes. So, what's really going on with the Drua?

There's no point of recording 200 tackles, winning all your lineouts and scrums, making 50 turnovers or even scoring 10 tries but still you lose the game at the end of the day.

This should be drummed into the heads of the Drua players that at the end of the day, the final score is what matters the most, nothing else!

Whether it's a one-point win or an ugly win- the fact of the matter is that a win is a win.

No spectator or company (in terms of sponsorship) wants to support or back a losing team or brand. Everyone wants to be associated with a winning team or brand and for now the Fijian Drua is far, far away from it.

It's sad but that is the reality of the situation. When it comes to playing in the Super Rugby Pacific competition, it's all business right from the start to the end.

The worry here is why has it taken the players this long to realise their downfall? The Drua, as a professional franchise club, should have identified it straight after the Brumbies match and nip it in the bud, but it was not.

It seemed everyone was playing a guessing game. When every time, they are ahead on the score-line, the Drua players should be told to work together as a unit to protect the lead. They have to focus on their game plan, tighten their defence and control the game right to the final whistle. There's no time to relax.

They must never play defensive (to protect the lead) as the best form of defend is to attack and keep the scoreboard ticking in their favour. They must never play to the crowd, which has been the case for some time or try to do things on their own.

Those moments of madness has been very costly for the Drua and should be stopped one way or another.

Also, the senior players must rise to assist the cocaptains in terms of decision making to help steer the side to victory. The whole process involves teamwork.

It has to remain that way. The Drua players need to do a lot of soul searching for the next few days before they face the unbeaten Chiefs at Churchill Park, Lautoka, on Saturday.

So far, it is embarrassing to remain winless in the 2025 season and the only message the Drua players should ponder on this week is this: 'Sa rauta mada na lusi' (Enough of losing).

Feedback: leonec@fijisun.com.fj