NRC 2018: Drua dominate Brisbane City in Fiji

Sat, Sep 8, 2018, 5:32 AM
Rebecca Szabo
by Rebecca Szabo
Fijian Drua look to keep their perfect start to 2018 when they host Brisbane City at Churchill Park in Lautoka.

The Fijian Drua have made a major statement with a 66-5 domination of Brisbane City in Fiji.

The Drua's comfortable round one win over the Rising was impressive but this was a whole other level, with the Fijians annihilating City in every area and showing a multitude of attacking weapons.

Levani Kurumudu and scrumhalf Frank Lomani  were outstanding performers for the home side, nabbing five of the Drua's 10 tries on the afternoon.

Brisbane City set the tone early particularly with their field position but that pressure couldn't be turned into points.

It was the Drua who broke the deadlock when Eremasi Rodradro charged over the line to plant the ball down on the 11th minute.

And just like round one, Fiji flicked the switch with three tries in 10 minutes.

Kurumudu, Lomani and Apisalome Waqatabu all crossed the line and suddenly the Drua had a 28-0 lead.

Brisbane City looked wide to find a response, but errant passes not hitting their respective targets and the Drua's tight defence stopped those efforts.

The home side pounced before the main break with Kurumudu crossing for his second and giving the Drua a 35-0 lead at the break.

It didn’t take long for  the Drua to hit the scoreboard again, through Lomani, who had his second 10 minutes into the second half.

The home side then scored two tries in a six minute spell when Cyril Reece and Kurumudu both crossed on the 57th minute, setting up a 56-0 lead.

It took until the 68th minute before Brisbane City finally had something to cheer about, with young gun Jayden Ngamanu scoring the visitors' first and only try of the afternoon.

That was short lived however with the Drua responded by scoring twice in the last three minutes of the match.

Captain Mosese Voka and substitute Tevita Naqali crossed to secure the win and set down a marker for the rest of the competition.

Result

Fijian Drua 66

Tries: Kurumudu 3, Lomani 2, Naqali, Voka, Reece,  Radrodo

Cons: Waqatabu 8

Brisbane City 5

Tries: Ngamanu 

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