Fijian Drua’s trial victory over the Western Drive has proven they will not be one-trick ponies of their second Tremendous Rugby Pacific season.
Mick Byrne’s facet beat the Drive 48-38 at Brisbane’s Wests Rugby Membership on Thursday night time of their remaining hit-out earlier than subsequent Saturday’s season opener in opposition to fellow competitors sophomores Moana Pasifika in Auckland.
Famend for his or her opportunistic play, Byrne was happy to see some persistence as they held the ball and used their maul to attain 4 consecutive first-half tries.
They went to the air within the second half with Iosefo Masi the goal, the surface middle who received rugby sevens gold for Fiji on the Tokyo Olympics after which spent two years within the North Queensland NRL system.
The Drive trailed 41-24 with 12 minutes to go however obtained again to inside three factors of the Drua, earlier than their after-the-siren strive sealed a second trial win from two preseason hit-outs.
Together with his group set to name Fiji dwelling after a debut season spent principally in northern NSW, Byrne has seen dramatic enchancment.
“We had a yr to get to know what it is about however a yr is not a very long time, particularly with gamers who’ve by no means performed skilled rugby earlier than,” he informed AAP post-game.
“Final yr we had been a little bit free and never used to these issues, however they appear to be they have their heads round what it appears prefer to be knowledgeable group.”
Byrne lamented a return to “sevens rugby” after they had an early lead, however was happy that they had proven glimpses of what was wanted to compete in 2023.
“We need to create a bit extra of a 3rd dimension to our recreation with the kicking,” he stated.
“It isn’t one thing we have been good at, however we’re engaged on it and hopefully they’ll take pleasure in that as a lot as they benefit from the offload and taking them on.
“The maul is a brand new supply of factors for us; we’re studying the best way to play that 15s recreation.”
Drive recruit and Wallabies hooker hopeful Folau Fainga’a limped off with an ankle damage, whereas fellow recruit Hamish Stewart struggled to have an effect as he regarded to nail down the No.10 jersey after leaving the Queensland Reds.
