FIJI Airways Fijian Drua captain Joeli Veitayaki expects the players to maintain their momentum in the remaining three round robin matches of the National Rugby Championship in order to defend the title.
Veitayaki was handed the captain’s armband for the important match against Sydney at Churchill Park, Lautoka yesterday taking over from blindside flanker Eremasi Radrodro who was part of the starting XV.
The 33-year-old loosehead prop did not disappoint guiding the team to a resounding 76-29 victory against the visitors.
Veitayaki, who is part of the leadership group in the team which also includes Johnny Dyer, Cyril Reece and Radrodro, thanked the team coaching staff and management for having confidence in him to lead the team at a crucial stage with their semi-final hopes on the line.
He said the main aim was to win with a bonus victory.
“During training this week, we just worked on our mistakes from the last game against New South Wales Country Eagles,” Veitayaki said.
“We played our Fijian flair style of rugby and had to balance it out with the forward play.
“We executed our game plan well and we hope to build on from there for the remaining games.
“The boys went into the match with a lot of confidence after recording two draws and a loss.”
