Byrne puts trust in Tela

SWIRE Shipping Fijian Drua head coach Mick Byrne says players have been reminded of the importance of carrying out their individual roles when facing the Queensland Reds in their fourth round match of the Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific competition.

The two sides meet at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Sunday with kick-off scheduled for 5pm (Fiji time).

Last Saturday, the Crusaders put the sword to the Drua with two early tries to hooker Quinten McDonald from rolling mauls. When asked on how the Drua would work on countering the rolling maul against a strong Reds forward pack, Byrne said they had a talk on the mistakes made during the Crusaders game.

“We talked about a couple of players missing their roles on the weekend,” the former All Blacks skills and kicking coach said.

“There was a couple of players that needed to hit the mauls harder and part of their role was to get into the maul earlier than they did.

“The challenge with the maul is that once it gets going, it is very hard to stop and if a couple of players miss their roles in stopping it, then it gets difficult and we have addressed that.”

Byrne said the Drua worked hard in training this week in making sure the players executed their roles when they faced the Reds.

“I don’t think the rolling maul is becoming our Achilles heel, and I think the Crusaders match was the first time, a team got across the line deploying that. “I trust the boys and the work they do,” he said.