Stick with same players, coach urged

The Swire Shipping Fijian Drua should stick with the same Match 23 players that beat the Hurricanes 25-20, when they face the Brumbies in Saturday’s Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific clash in Ba.

This was the view of former Flying Fijians and Queensland Reds prop Peni Volavola.

Speaking to SUNsports yesterday, Volavola said most of the Drua coaches hail from New Zealand and are well aware of the All-Blacks concept of ‘hard to get in and hard to get out’.

“Once they have a winning team, they’ll stick with the same players or core of the squad, as long as they keep producing the result,” the Australian Level 2 coach remarked.

“They’ll only make changes if a player is either injured or suspended.”

Volavola said the Drua has a young squad with their promising first five eighth Isaiah Arm-strong-Ravula, who is in need of having more game time.

“Ravula is learning fast and the more he plays will give him the much-needed experience. This will help him move up to that international class.”

Playing at 10, Volavola says, it’s all about game management.

“Ravula is the one who controls the game. He either moves the backline or uses his tactical kicking to give the forwards a rest. At first five, he must always communicate with his team-mates on their next move.”

He reiterated the need for the Drua players to work together throughout the 80 minutes.

“That was what they did against the Hurricanes and we saw the result. There was no individual play as they moved together and was able to keep possession.”

Volavola said against the Brumbies, the Drua forwards must lay the foundation.

“It’s no point of having a good backline while the forwards fail to execute what is required of them.”

He also stressed the need for the Drua attack to go along with their defence.

“We must always remember that defence wins game. The Brumbies is a top club in Australia and despite their narrow loss to the Reds last weekend, they’ll comeback fi ring. Looking at this season’s Super Rugby, I’m betting on the Brumbies to either reach the semifinal or final.”

Volavola said if the weather is fi ne in Ba, the Drua should lift their game to the next level and must stick to what they did to the Hurricanes.

“The players must not play to the crowd but instead stick to the process by playing to the game plan set by the coaches,” he added.