The Swire Shipping Fijian Drua coming off a 20-10 win over the Crusaders in Lautoka, has the Chiefs on high alert, in a competition looking a lot more open than in previous years.
Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan says he would love to go over to Fiji and enjoy their hospitality, but it’s a bloody tough place to play.
McMillan highlighted this before their game against the Drua tonight saying it is probably one of the first things he looks at when looking at the draws.
Having started the season with a win over the Crusaders, then a thrashing of the Brumbies in the Super Round in Melbourne, last year’s runners-up suffered a surprise slip-up to the Reds in Brisbane last Saturday.
But the big elephant in the room, of course, is the Drua’s form at home compared to their form on the road.
Up against the five Kiwi teams, the Drua have a 3-3 win-loss record when playing in Fiji, for an average scoreline of 25-24 against them.
Against those sides when playing outside of Fiji? The Drua are 0-7, for an average losing score of a whopping 50-12.
McMillan knows first-hand from his side’s wild 35-34 cling-on win in Lautoka in 2022, while in a quirk of the schedule, the Chiefs, as well as the Highlanders, have been able to now host the Fijians two years in a row.
In saying that, the coach feels the Drua have also demonstrated some improvements with their road game, and mentality, and knows if his side clock off at any stage, they could easily be punished.
Averaging not just the most carry metres and linebreaks of any side through three rounds, the Drua went into the weekend also top for scrum success and goalkicking, so the makings are there for a more well-rounded unit.
The Chiefs play the Drua at 6.30 tonight at FMG Stadium, Waikato.
In other games, the Highlanders host the Brumbies at 3.35 this afternoon while the Waratahs play the Blues at 8.35 tonight.
In games played last night, the Hurricanes edged the Crusaders 14-10, the Reds thrashed the Rebels 53-26 while Moana Pasifika beat the Force 22-14.
Source: Stuff.co
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