Super W Title Heads Home As Fijiana Drua Stay Unbeaten

They came, they saw and they conquered.

That is the story of the Rooster Chicken Fijiana Drua as they took the Super W title away from Australia soil for the first time after a thrilling 32-26 win over the Waratahs in the grandfinal, this afternoon.

Lanky lock Jade Coates summed up the win saying: “It’s history for us”

She said they were playing for past players, players of the future and supporters of Fijian rugby all around the world.

Winger Vitalina Naikore was named the Best Player of the final for scoring three tries and landing a conversion for a tally of 17 points.

The game went down to the wire as the Waratahs staged a comeback, with NZ import Natalie Delamare crossing for a hat-trick.

What happened: Having gone down in their previous clash, the Waratahs’ focused on dominating via the set-piece, saw hooker Vika Matarugu sent to the bin as the Drua struggled to stop the rolling maul.

The decision to opt for a five-metre scrum came back to haunt Campbell Aitken's side when an errant pass allowed the Fijians to flip the field and eventually cross for the first try through Naikore.

Natalie Delamare found a response four minutes later but two quick tries to the Drua, including a great kick pass from Merewalesi Rokouono to Kolora Lomani allowed them to build a 17-5 lead.

Delamare and the Waratahs' rolling maul got them back into the contest.

Halftime: Waratahs 12-17 Drua

They took the lead at the start of the second half with a try to Delamere.

The Drua threw everything at a brave Waratahs defensive line as Wallaroos Emily Chancellor and halfback Illseva Batibasaga snagged turnover after turnover.

Eva Karpani's injection came at the perfect time for the defending champions to storm into the lead with 14 minutes to go.

However, the Fijiana Drua kept applying pressure with their trademark fast-tempo game as their electric supporters willed them over the line.

It took a piece of brilliance from fullback Timaima Ravisa to break the game open, racing away and somehow ducking under a Mahalia Murphy tackle to put the Drua back in front.

With momentum on their side, Naikore's third sealed the result and the championship for the Drua as they celebrated in emotional scenes at AAMI Park.

Comment: Drua fullback Ravisa said of her try: “To be honest I don’t what to say. This is incredible and we had worked hard. I was running and saw (Mahalia) Murphy coming across but I had a role to do and that was to get the ball over the tryline.”

Drua captain Bitilia Tawake said: “I thank our sponsors Rooster Chicken and all our supporters.”

DRUA 32

TRIES: Naikore 3, Radiniyavuni, Lomani, Timaima Ravisa

CONS: Rokouono 0/4, Naikore 1/2

WARATAHS 26

TRIES: Delamare 3, Karpani

CONS: Cramer ¾

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