Suva Wary of Nadroga’s Fast Backline
“We will not leave any stone unturned as we need a good connection between the forwards and the backline,” he said.
Friday 21 June 2024 | 12:30
Fiery Suva flanker Talatala Tokaibau in action against Nadi in the semifinal on June 15, 2024. Photo: Leon Lord
The Suva rugby team will be out to play right to the final whistle in their Skipper Cup grand-final clash against BLK Nadroga at Ratu Cakobau Park, Nausori, tomorrow.
This was the gist of Suva head coach Solo Nute’s interview with SUNsports yesterday.
“The preparation has been going well and we’ve learnt our mistakes from the Nadi game,” he said.
“We are trying to get our set piece right and we know Nadroga is a champion team.”
Nute said they have been working hard on ways to contain Nadroga’s fast backline.
“We will not leave any stone unturned as we need a good connection between the forwards and the backline,” he said.
“The forwards had controlled our game against Nadi but we need to manage our game well.”
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Nute said his side has improved tremendously in terms of discipline in the Skipper Cup campaign to retain the title.
“There was no yellow and red card in our semifinal and it was one of our strategies that we tried to manage it in high intense games,” he said.
“We need to manage our decision making to avoid any errors in terms of discipline.”
Nute said veteran Enele Malele is currently training with the team in preparation for the final.
“We will see how it goes, if he can manage his recovery; we might play him but otherwise we’ll just stick with the same line-up from last week,” he said.
“We trust the system and we trust these players to do the work on Saturday.”
Nute said they are confident of taking the Nadroga side to the wire.
“We need to control our set pieces and defend as hard as we can as the outcome will be in out favour,” he said.
“The Under-20 players have filled up the vacuum left by the seven players, and they are gelling with the experienced players as well.
“We hope these players get contracted overseas or in the Fijian Drua set-up maybe even the Flying Fijians,” he said.
“I urge the fans to come out in numbers on Saturday and we’ll do our talking on the field.” Nute said they would give their best effort in the final for their clubs and supporters.
“We will work extra hard in order to maintain the winning culture again,” he added.
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