Rooster Chicken Fijian Drua coach Moses Rauluni says indiscipline was a let down for the team in the grand final of the Super W competition at the Ballymore Stadium in Brisbane yesterday.
Speaking after the 50-14 defeat to the Waratahs, Rauluni said the heavy defeat was disappointing and the team should have used their chances well in the first half.
‘We missed a lot of opportunities in the first half. Grand finals are about opportunities and we need to take them.”
“A few balls went down on the floor but we can’t make excuses now that chance has gone.”
“We had said before the game that we don’t have to let opportunities go; unfortunately for us we gave away some penalties and discipline and yellow cards really cost us.”
“They beat us physically with their ball carries and our defence was tackling high and got yellow cards and this just put us on the back foot.”
“I am really disappointed but I know the girls are better than that but we cannot rue on the past and need to keep moving forward.”
He said the Waratahs have been the benchmark team all year as their skills, execution and fitness has been way above everyone and they worked hard to avenge their losses to the Drua in the past two seasons.
“We had a short preseason and obviously we started late and I had lots of injuries in the start but we managed to scrape together a team and credit goes to the system at the High Performance Unit back in Fiji for filling the gaps we needed until the girls were fit again.”
“We were still way off the mark in the final and I couldn’t be proud of the girls for the effort we put. We can dwell on the things that went wrong but I am proud of my girls for what they have done this season.”
“We probably shouldn’t be in this final but we managed to do it and that’s just the fighting spirit they’ve got.”
The team will have a one week break before they assemble again in Nadi to prepare for the Oceania Championship on the Gold Coast in Australia in June.
“We will get ready to play our arch rivals Tonga, Samoa and PNG and see if we qualify for the World Cup.”
“Losing this game will probably be a good learning for the girls going forward and we will come back here and play on the same ground. At least the girls will be used to it and we can prepare better for that one,” Rauluni added.
