Swire Shipping Fijian Drua head coach Mick Byrne is expecting leadership qualities from those Flying Fijians who were part of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.
18 Flying Fijians have been named in Drua’s 37 member squad for their campaign in the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season and Byrne believes their World Cup experience will lead the way for the young and developing players in the team.
“We are expecting the players to come back with those learning from the Flying Fijian and smack into the group. A little bit of expectation comes around with that as we want to see them work hard and lead the way with their leadership qualities.”
“We are really looking forward to them to come back in and grow and develop the current players we have in the Drua squad.”
Despite Fiji bowing out of the tournament in the quarterfinals, Byrne believes every game was a learning curve for the Drua players.
“It was a great opportunity as some of these players were not professional rugby players two years ago and now they have gone into the World Cup and have experienced playing in the Barbarians.”
“I’d imagine knowing how our players were and they would have picked up some great learning from the world cup not only around the game but around themselves as well.”
Drua will kick off their season against the Blues on 24 February at Semenoff Stadium in Whangārei.
