Legge expects a bruising forward battle

McDonald’s Fiji Drua women’s interim coach Mike Legge expects a tough battle up front when his side faces the Brumbies in Round Three of the Super W competition at 4R Stadium, Ba, on Saturday.

The Drua edged the Western Force 29-24 last week, while the Brumbies upset the Queensland Reds 15-12 in their opening match.

Legge said the Brumbies were likely to adopt a similar approach to the Force.

He said Drua is preparing to counter the Brumbies’ forward-driven attack, with improved ruck play and stronger starts identified as the keys to securing a home victory.

“It’ll be a similar style to what the Force play, so we’re expecting them to probably try and attack us around the middle third of the field, just in and around the 12 and 13 channels,” Legge said.

“We’ve got some things in play that will counter that and, if we stick to them for the full 80 minutes, we’re hoping for a positive result.”

Legge said winning the collision battle would be crucial.

“We really need to front up in the collisions around the ruck, at set-piece time and even in our channels out wide,” he said.

“It’s been a focus for us this week and we just want to be consistent with our work around the breakdown.

“We believe we can be consistent for the full 80 minutes and we believe that will give us a positive result.”

Another key area of focus has been decision-making at the ruck and improving starts to matches.

“We got off to another poor start against the Force and, credit to the girls, they showed their resilience by coming back and getting the win,” Legge said.

“That’s been the biggest focus for us — our starts and our attention to detail around the ruck.”

The Drua take on the Brumbies at 2pm on Saturday.