Droasese blunders kill Drua’s hopes

Two blunders from full-back Ilaisa Droasese killed Fijian Drua’s hopes of an upset win over the Chiefs in their Super Rugby Pacific clash in Christchurch, New Zealand, yesterday.

The Chiefs took control of the situation to win 42-22.

Trailing 10-14 and a few minutes from halftime, disaster struck for the Drua. Droasese took the ball inside the in-goal and instead of kicking it away or putting it down, he put a grubber kick, which was pounced on by Chiefs prop Jared Profit for their third try.

There was an exchange of words between Droasese and his team-mates who were dismayed with his action, as the Drua lost the momentum.

Long-time commentator and former All Black Justin Marshall called it “mind boggling”, something he’d not seen before on a rugby field.

He was talking about Droasese, having gathered a loose ball in-goal, opting to run it out, before grubber kicking to himself and attempting to counter.

“This was bizarre...we’ll probably never see this again. I don’t know what to say,” fellow commentator Jeff Wilson said, before Australian Morgan Turinui speculated Droasese might have thought the Chiefs knocked on moments earlier.

The Chiefs took advantage of the situation and quickly scored their fourth try, which was converted for a 28-10 lead at halftime.

Early, in the second half another Droasese blunder in losing the ball on the Drua try-line resulted in a five-metre scrum for the Chiefs where they scored their fifth for a 35-22 laed and they never looked back.

Drua managed to score three tries to Mesake Doge, Kavaia Tagivetaua and Simione Kuruvoli with Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula landing two conversions and a penalty.

Drua co-captain Temo Mayanavanua said they weren’t consistent enough.

“The impact players did really well,” he said.

Mayanavanua highlighted that debutant centre Maika Tuitubou was unreal as he made two turnovers and was strong in defence and attack.

“It was unfortunate we could not win this game for him.”

Chiefs captain Tupou Vaa’i said they had a lot of respect for the Drua.

“We really had to go the whole 80 (minutes) to win. It’s credit to the Fijian Drua,” he added.

At One New Zealand Stadium, Christchurch: Chiefs 42 (Brodie McAlister try 12min, Quinn Tupaea try 15min, Jared Proffit try 35min, Cortez Ratima try 37min, Daniel Sinkinson try 45min, Tepaea Cook-Savage try 69min; Damian McKenzie 6 con) Fijian Drua 22 (Mesake Doge try 3min, Kavaia Tagivetaua try 56min, Simone Kuruvoli try 66min; Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula 2 con, pen). HT: 28-10.