The noise told you all you needed to know. For the second time this season, a New Zealand powerhouse has been tamed. Two months after the Crusaders were slayed at home, the Hurricanes fell in Suva as the Drua sealed a famous win 27-24.
Just like back in round three, Kemu Valetini – the brother of Wallabies star, Rob – was the hero.
The replacement playmaker banged over a penalty from out wide to give the Drua a narrow lead – and ultimately the match – after a frantic game that had everything.
While the Hurricanes managed to crucially win the kick restart, another turnover in hot and humid conditions allowed the Drua a scrum feed.
Not content with running down the clock, they won the scrum and shifted it wide as the packed house at HFC Bank Stadium continued to go berserk.
The match was all but sealed when Australian referee Jordan Way’s hand went out giving the Drua a penalty.
It delayed only the inevitable as the Drua tapped quickly and booted the ball into the stands to hand Mick Byrne another impressive scalp.
For those not disillusioned by Super Rugby, you might have thought the competition was thriving.
It’s not, but the Drua have breathed life into the competition in what has been the best addition in two decades.
“We’re glad we’re back … to the crowd who came out in numbers today, we could feel you in the crowd today and that was for you too,” captain and hooker Tevita Ikanivere said.
“We’re fighting for a spot in the quarter-finals and we’ve got to come home in those two home games.”
Hurricanes skipper Ardie Savea, who had hoped to celebrate his older brother’s 150th match in style to go along with Julian’s record-equalling 60th Super Rugby try, heaped praise on the Drua.
“We always knew it was going to be tough and I think we just weren’t good enough,” Savea said.
“The Drua came out and they played, and they played for the whole 80 and they put us under a lot of pressure and they just capitalised. It was hard to defend, and we just weren’t good enough.
“The crowd was awesome regardless that we were playing and they were supporting the Drua. That’s not an excuse for us, we just weren’t good enough. But we weren’t good enough because the Drua were awesome and put us under a lot of pressure. They’re very dangerous, very scary.”
The Drua took a 7-5 lead into the break but they could have easily led by another couple of tries.
While Taniela Rakuro scored a fine try out, Frank Lomani missed two penalties and blew a golden opportunity on the stroke of half time when he lost possession centimeters short of the line.
Some desperate defence had earlier helped the Hurricanes stay alive, before Julian Savea scored out wide to narrow the margin.
The Drua’s frustrations were compounded when Savea had his second try just two minutes into the second half, but Jordie Barrett’s second missed conversion meant the Hurricanes only led 10-7.
Rakuro hit back immediately for the Drua to score his second after a stunning offload from Iosefo Masi.
The Hurricanes looked like they had found some rhythm when Xavier Numia was awarded a try despite looking to drop it over the line, before Du’Plessis extended the visitors lead.
But the Drua never went away as Ratu Meli Derenalagi scored midway through the second half to bring the home side back into the match.
Valetini levelled the game in the 75th minute with a long range strike, before stepping up out wide after Isaia Walker-Leawere was shown a second yellow card for cynical play to land the match-winning blow.
The victory saw the Drua move into seventh spot on 17 points, while the defeat was a blow to the Hurricanes’ top two ambitions despite their losing bonus point seeing them join the Brumbies in second on 32 points.
Vince Martin
Roar Rookie
No such thing as a double movement in rugby laws…. Playing the ball on the ground, not releasing when tackled (same as ‘propel yourselves forward with the ball’) maybe….?????
adastra32
Roar Rookie
In France, in the NH autumn, away from home. Hmmm.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
Damn you and your pesky scientific method :silly:
Harry Jones
Expert
Would be fun to see the B&I Lions play Fiji in Fiji.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
“The one constant is going to play in Fiji.” Completely agree. The ONE constant is playing in Fiji. Everything else is therefore a variable. In the most simple terms, Science works by having ONE variable, and the everything else constant. Thereby removing as many confounding factors as possible. Confounding factors could be… Jet lag Humidity Team nutrition Rest/rotation policy Prevalence of Fijian or Pasifika players in squad The list could go on… “Some” of those you cod broadly out into how ‘good’ a team is, like maybe team nutrition’. But some are out of control, like humidity or jet lag. Yes, actions can be taken to mitigate or lessen those factors, but each team starts from a different position or experiences a different situation. I get what you’re saying, there are enough similarities to compare performance. But as a true indicator of ‘quality’ the overall results for the whole comp are more powerful as there are more results, so noise in the data is eliminated or reduced. At this stage, the table looks to be about right.
Perthstayer
Roar Rookie
Drua's made Fiji a good chance for RWC S/F. Wales, Oz & England are there for the taking.
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
The Drua have definitely added a spark of glamour to Superugby ... I have found a team to follow ! :thumbup:
WEST
Roar Guru
Same goes for playing the Crusaders in Christchurch, going off your theory.. Playing against the most successful franchise, shouldn’t that be a better measuring stick. I’m pretty sure that’s actually what teams judge themselves off.
Wig
Roar Rookie
It will be interesting nick who drops out
Nick Maguire
Roar Rookie
The one constant is going to play in Fiji.
WEST
Roar Guru
I disagree, to much variation in this competition. SRP is a marathon played out in a wide variety of venues under different conditions, cold n wet to dry n tropical. To say how your results go against one middle ground team is not an indicating factor. Results over the entire season is the only way to measure a teams success… just my opinion :thumbup:
Nick Maguire
Roar Rookie
WEST, don't mention the war!
Nick Maguire
Roar Rookie
Wig, I'm tipping Wales not to make it out of the pool. Wallabies and Fiji to progress.
Nick Maguire
Roar Rookie
WEST, "Can’t really use the Drua as a measuring stick! ????" Well you can actually. As a scientific control they are a baseline measurement aren't they? How does each team perform against them in their home environment which is different from every other team's home environment? It's actually the one constant in competition.
Nick Maguire
Roar Rookie
Well I suppose you could use Drua at home as a scientific control to measure the merits of teams they play eh? They are definitely on the right trajectory if they and the Fijiana can overcome the incompetence and corruption of their organising body. However given the governance standards that apply in that country I'm not optimistic.
Coker
Roar Rookie
The Canes first try was decidedly more suspect — losing the ball and landing on it is routinely ruled out because the laws of physics means it must have gone forward.
Bodger
Roar Rookie
Yeah, he might have propelled himself forward a little but splitting hairs, a try for me as well.
WEST
Roar Guru
At home.. they’re a different animal! Coach Byrne is turning them into something lethal! No doubt about that. Next year they could be hard to stop, especially if they secure a spot in the playoffs
Chivas
Roar Rookie
Not at home... so yes i think i can... :happy:
WEST
Roar Guru
Can’t really use the Drua as a measuring stick! :laughing: A team that loses to the bottom of the table, Highlanders 57-24. They lost to the Reds, thrashed by the Waratahs. Lucky to beat the bottom dwellers MP by 2 points. Your barking up the wrong tree. You forget the factors that contribute to them winning majority at home. Teams playing in tropical heat in the high 30 deg. The humidity, dry hard surface. The home crowd that goes mad at every touch of the ball. But nice try, we’ll see how the dice roll at the play offs.. As the Crusaders are now 2nd on the table heading into the playoffs.