Forwards key to Kadavu’s revival: Stewart

Kadavu is looking to bounce back from last Saturday’s 10-30 loss to Fresh Choice Tailevu by beating hosts Taveuni at Wairiki ground on Saturday.

Kadavu vice-captain and former Suva centre John Stewart said they must first address their weaknesses, particularly in the set piece before facing Taveuni.

“The battle will be in the forwards,” the former Fijian Drua captain.

“Kadavu needs to improve on winning our set pieces, somewhere to start off. We'll go back to our drawing board and we'll review our weaknesses.”

Stewart said Taveuni would provide another tough challenge, but remains confident that Kadavu could produce a strong performance.

“As we all know, Taveuni has been doing really well in the past few games and we know going there to Taveuni will not be an easy task for Kadavu, but I know the boys can do the job,” he said.

Stewart said the forwards was a major factor in their loss to Tailevu.

“Tailevu dominated us in the forwards, to be honest. We were in the fight in the first half, but in the second half, we let loose and Tailevu ran away with the game,” he said.

Stewart also appealed to Kadavu supporters to remain patient with the young side.

“To all the Kadavu supporters, we apologise for Saturday’s loss. But please be patient with us as we have a very young team, especially the boys coming from the island. They're still experiencing, still learning a lot of things about playing top-level rugby.

“Please bear with us and be patient with us. Keep supporting us. We can give you the result you want from the Kadavu team,” he added.

Weekend fixtures (host team first)

FMF Suva v Malolo at Buckhurst Park; McDonald’s Nadi v Nadroga at King Charles Park; Tailevu v Khelvin Civil Engineering Lautoka at Ratu Cakobau Park; Vind Patel Ba v Naitasiri at Govind Park, Taveuni v Kadavu at Wairiki ground; Rewa v Navosa at Burebasaga ground.