Macuata Looks Ahead After Wins

Discipline while on attack and patience in building multiple phases helped Macuata women’s rugby side edge Cakaudrove 43-38 in a tightly contested Royal Tea Ranadi Cup clash yesterday. 

Playing away at Ratu Ganilau Park in Savusavu, Macuata coach, Motu Lalagavesi, said the game was a test of their mental approach to away games. 

She was delighted with the side’s win and believed the win was possible because of the strong team bond they had. 

“I told players we have to be patient when on attack and use each pass or phase to score points, aimlessly attacking is what we tried to avoid,” Lalagavesi said. 

Cakaudrove is a tough side and poses a threat to Macuata’s yearly bid to remain unbeaten from the Northern conference. 

Lalagavesi said they knew Cakaudrove would push them to the wire and they were ready for it. 

“We put on a strong performance in our scrums, lineouts and build attacking phases well,” she said. 

Losing at the quarter-final stages in the Ranadi Cup last year is still fresh in the minds of our players. 

While some senior players were retained this year, new players have joined the side. 

“We have four secondary school students and four from university who are part of the squad,” she said. 

Lalagavesi said they took each game as the final and the close win is a demonstration of good game management skills. 

“We managed the game well and we knew how to use our attacks to eat up the time,” she said. 

Defensively Macuata were tested and this is an area of focus, which Lalagavesi, hopes to improve on. 

“We defended well today, but, need to concede fewer points in close games.”

Way forward

Lalagavesi said they want to win the Ranadi Cup and play in the Marama Championship from next season. 

“The higher the competition we play in, the better the exposure for our players to secure contracts,” she said. 

Macuata has won the first two games of this year’s season, beating Taveuni and Cakaudrove. 

She said they won’t underestimate Bua in their next clash at the same venue next Tuesday. 

“We will treat this game with the same level of respect as the other two games,” she added. 

Bua remain winless this season after suffering heavy defeats to Cakaudrove (14-70) and Taveuni (5-44) and would face an uphill battle against the unbeaten Macuata side.