Nadi set to face Taveuni

The Cohen Politini-coached Nadi rugby side is expected to lift their performance when they host giant killers Tave­uni in round five of the Skipper Cup at Churchill Park in Lautoka this week.

Nadi fielded seven new players in its 19-all draw with Tailevu in round four at Churchill Park last Friday, af­ter leading 19-7 at halftime.

Politini said the team had learnt from the result and would work on its weaknesses before the next chal­lenge.

"We expected the game to go by the wire. We knew how good Tailevu was; they're an BO-minute team, but I'm grateful that we could move as a team and progress. For the past two games, in the second half, we failed to fire, and last week the boys went BO-plus and pushed.

"In the past two games, the boys went BO-plus and pushed so hard. So, hats off to the boys, and we look forward to next week and putting in our yards for whatever weaknesses we had today.

"It was more of a leadership is­sue where we again had two yellow cards at a very crucial time in the game.

"We've carried it four games now, and it's becoming a bad habit that we have to eradicate because when we carry the full game, it's not going to be a bad habit. So, I will be doing a lot of talking and chatting and soul­searching in the next week about this.

"The performance was really good for first-timers coming out of the club and playing in a hard game like this. Their performance was really good. First time coming out of the club and playing in a hard game like this."

Nadi rugby union vice president Jeff Tamata said the three draws in­volving the senior, U20 and women's teams last week as a rare occur­rence.

"Well, that just shows the level that the Skipper has gone to this year.

"I would like to thank the Tailevu team for giving us a good game, and likewise the Nadi team. The out­come just shows the preparation that was done by the two teams.

Meanwhile, Taveuni produced the major upset last weekend, defeating host Nadroga at Lawaqa Park in Si­gatoka.