If you didn’t get the chance to watch Saturday’s Drua-Waratahs clash, do yourselves a favour by closing this page and pinching a mate’s Stan subscription ASAP.
This game deserves more than a few paltry words but we’ll do our best to wrap up one of the great Super Rugby clashes of all time.
Click here for our full match recap of Fijian Drua-NSW Waratahs.
The hosts Drua came away 39-36 winners in golden point but NSW fans can take plenty of heart from their side’s incredible fightback at Churchill Park.
Here’s what we learnt:
Sometimes you need to start a story at the end.
In this case, we’ll start with the man who ended it – Kemu Valetini.
With a minute of extra time remaining and his side under penalty advantage, Valetini stepped up with an extraordinary 25m drop goal on the run to sink Waratah hearts and ignite the Drua faithful in Lautoka.
He’s making a habit of stepping up in the big moments after last year’s match-winner against the Crusaders and finds himself easily Fiji’s favourite Valetini brother (sorry Rob!) following another instant classic.
Spare a thought for Tane Edmed who missed his chance with a low drop-goal attempt earlier during golden point – rugby really is a game of inches.
NSW did everything they possibly could against the Drua in this one and will be rightly devastated to lose a third close game in as many weeks.
But the Fijians really are 15 points better at home.
The heaving Lautoka crowd was deafening all afternoon and willed the Drua home, especially during golden point.
The Waratahs lineout crumbled under crowd pressure in extra time, which directly resulted in the Drua wriggling away from their early yellow card and marching up-field to set up Valetini’s match winner.
They’ll host the Western Force next week and only the bravest of punters would bet against them for any of their five remaining games on Fijian soil.
There were heroes on both backlines in this one and we’ll start with the Waratahs.
Joey Walton was one of NSW’s best and constantly threatened the Drua defence while Izaia Perese showed how much he’ll be missed with another assured performance.
Rival flyhalves Tane Edmed and Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula ran their cutters superbly and Frank Lomani just edged Jake Gordon off the back of two 50-22s and a brilliant running game.
But the cream of Saturday’s crop was hat-trick hero Iosefo Masi.
The Olympic gold medallist was unstoppable in the Drua’s first-half flurry, scoring three tries to skewer the Tahs early, and remains one of Super Rugby’s most devastating runners.
Darren Coleman’s side have lost three on the spin since defeating the Crusaders last month but they could easily be sitting 4-1 this season, not the other way around.
A missed penalty against the Highlanders, two points off the Blues, and now agony in Lautoka.
They fought back from a 26-10 half time deficit and were in the golden-point box seat before falling short.
It’s enough for any blue-blooded fan to pull their hair out but let’s be clear – the Tahs aren’t done yet.
Next week’s clash against the Rebels at home must be won to keep their season alive and we’ll really see what NSW are made of in April when the Waratahs tackle ACT in Canberra before back-to-back home games against the Crusaders and Chiefs.
Coleman’s Tah tenure could very well be decided by this block of games.
It's a long-shot given the quality of this year's Super Rugby Pacific competition but hear us out.
The Drua will face Western Force (home) and Melbourne Rebels (away) over the next fortnight and enter both games as favourite before hosting the Hurricanes in Suva.
From there, they'll enjoy a bye before touring Australia to face the Brumbies and Force again.
Yes, the Hurricanes are red-hot, but the Drua have shown they're nigh impossible to beat at home and it's not outside the realm of possibility that Fiji could win their next five games on the hop.
Or maybe we're just hoping for a home quarter final in Lautoka - but honestly, who wouldn't enjoy a spectacle like that?
