Opinion
Sure, there is the rumble again in the Super Rugby Pacific between the Brumbies and the Reds, but we had that the other week already.
Forget over the ditch.
Very few people, at least in Sydney, are aware of this game as the media do not appear to cover Super W.
This weekend’s ‘should be’ most anticipated game is Friday’s Super W game between the Waratahs and the Fijiana Drua. Both teams are undefeated with the Fijiana Drua on top of the table with a better for and against.
The Fijiana Drua have hit the Australian Buildcorp Super W competition like a freight train – fast, strong, skilled and fit. With three wins 66-5 over the Rebels, 27-12 over the Reds and 45-17 over the Force. They have performed outstandingly and didn’t have a lot of preparation before the start of the competition.
The Fijiana Drua squad is made up of 23 local players and eight overseas based players. It is a mix of Fijian 15s players, a few former sevens players, a couple of League players from the News Zealand Warriors and Fiji, plus a player from the UK women’s Saracens team.
Usually with Fijian teams you could hang in there, wear them down in the set piece and then get away in the last 15 to 20 minutes. That is not the case with the Fijiana Drua they are running all day. Just like their men and women’s sevens teams they are highly skilled, love the contact, transition quickly after a turnover and offload at every opportunity.
The expectation is that the Fijiana Drua will just pound away, wear the Waratahs down in both attack and in defence. Once worn down the flood gates open and the Fijiana Drua run away with it. As Rebels captain Mel Kawa said “It was like playing sevens for 80 minutes”.
It is going to be interesting to see how the game plays out. On the Stan show ‘Between Two Posts’ with Sean Maloney and Andrew Mehrtens, Waratahs’ player Lori Cramer basically indicated they would have to tighten the game up, slow it down and not get into a fling it around tryfest.
This will be interesting to see how they execute this game plan as the Waratahs have been scoring a lot of tries especially by star fullback Mahlia Murphy. (Even the props Bridie O’Gorman and Eva Karpani have made the highlight reel with in open space runaway tries a la Matt Dunning.)
Who to look out for in the Fijiana Drua?
Their front row is strong with Vika Matarugo leading the way. In the backs fly half Merewalesi Rokouono, wing Vitalinia Naikore and full back Roela Radiniyavuni are dangerous.
On the Waratahs side it will be interesting to see the selections. The forwards ability to withstand the Fijiana Drua will be critical.
While the Waratahs have got some experience with taliswoman Grace Hamilton, Emily Chancellor, Emily Robinson and Sera Naiqama, the player who has impressed has been Anita Faimasui Brown at 6 whether starting or off the bench. The Waratahs will need her strength.
In the backs the plan has been the Jonah Lomu strategy, just give it to Mahlia Murphy. Not sure whether she will get the same opportunities this week but she is an absolute star. The centre pairing of Georgina Friedrichs and Katrina Barker is very good but they don’t have the size, so would not be surprised if Nicole Nathan is slotted in to provide some size.
Similarly the wingers have speed and agility, just not sure about their size with the rampaging Fijiana Drua. Also of interest will be to see who plays fly half with Pauline Piliae having started in all three games so far but Arabella Mckenzie is probably available after her stint in the Super Rugby Aupiki.
Let us hope it delivers as a a block buster, it is quite possible that the Fijiana Drua could turn up and blow our Waratahs off the park – noting the Waratahs haven’t lost a game since the start in 2018.
There are also other Super W games this weekend. The Reds v Rebels on Saturday, (expect the Reds to get the win here), note this game is on free to air 9Gem. Then on Sunday is Brumbies v Force which should be a cracker of a game.
As a side issue, it would be really interesting to understand why Rugby AU has scheduled (according to rugby.com.au) the Super W semi final on a Thursday at 10am, and the final while on a Saturday is on at 10am.
They need to look at NRLW, AFLW and A-League W as to how to appropriately schedule women’s games.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
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