FIJI Airways Drua head coach Senirusi Seruvakula says hosting a NRC home final is a huge boost for Fiji rugby.
He commended his troops for the commitment and perseverance to create history for Fiji and Australian rugby.
“It is a huge achievement and massive for the team and Fiji rugby,” he said.
“First we brought the semi-final to Fiji and now we will be hosting the final and that is a very strong effort from the boys.
“The players have the confidence amongst them and us the coaches have the belief they can get the job done and that was shown after the game today.” Down 23-7 in the second spell, Seruvakula was asked what inspired the boys to bounce back strongly and the tactic he used to win the game.
“The message was very simple – keep the ball and have patient and be confident with each other. It doesn’t matter what is the scoreline, it happened last week and why we cannot do it again this week.”
He said the big impact felt by the team in the second spell was the substitution made to the front row.
The replacement trio of Eroni Mawi, Ratunaisa Navuma and Luke Tagi did the damage as the Drua scrums pushed the Vikings backwards on few occasions.
They continued where Joeli Veitayaki, Mesu Dolokoto and Benji Makutu left off in the first spell dominating the scrums.
One of these scrums dominance led to the penalty try.
The Vikings scored two early tries to flyers Andrew Muirhead and Len Ikitau while Drua’s lone try in the second spell was scored by Frank Lomani.
Radrodro, Eroni Mawi, Aporosa Tabulawaki scored a try in the second spell added by the penalty try.
The Vikings managed to score a consolation try at the stroke of fulltime.
The final will be held at Lautoka’s Churchill Park on Saturday.
