Suva Coach Wary Of Lautoka’s Forwards

Suva rugby head coach Solo Nute is confident that his young brigade will give hosts Lautoka a good go in today’s Skipper Cup clash at Churchill Park.

“We have been ironing out our mistakes from last week’s game against Ba despite the match being considered a friendly by Fiji Rugby due to technical reasons,” the former Suva prop said.

“The tempo of our preparation is going well and we’re looking forward to playing Lautoka on their home ground.”

Nute said Lautoka, is a good team as they have depth of talented players.

“We can see they rattled the Nadi team last week before going down narrowly 22–28,” he said.

“They have good forwards and we’re looking forward to this game.”

Nute said despite Suva being the defending Skipper Cup champions, they must work extra hard to win against Lautoka.

“They were five debutants from last week’s game against Ba.

Suva’s Mosese Naiova (with ball) on attack against Ba during their Skipper Cup Round One match at Bidesi Park, Suva on February 24, 2024 Photo: Leon Lord

These players came from the Suva Under-20 side and we’re also facilitating a few players from the Fijian Warriors squad who are in the HPU (High Performance Unit) programme,” he said.

“We hope the players’ combinations click against Lautoka.”

Nute said he was fortunate to have Fijian Drua development player Isoa Tuwai back in the team.

“We also included him because there was no game time for him in the last few weeks.

“We are happy for the experience he has got from the Fijian Drua set-up.”

Nute said they would need to deliver the ball a lot faster from the ruck.

“We have some good runners out wide and Lautoka has a good and heavy forward pack.

“We also have a very good forward pack with a few experienced players that we have utilised to gain the momentum.”

Nute urged Suva supporters to turn-up at Lautoka’s Churchill Park to cheer the team on.

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