Exciting year for U20s
Drua wall to motivate players
IT’S an exciting year for the Fiji Rugby under-20 team with major competitions lined up starting this month.
Fiji will take part in a new Oceania Rugby U20 Challenge which will serve as a solid build-up to the World Rugby U20 Championship.
The World Rugby Championship will see the top 12 U20 teams go head-to-head in South Africa from June 29 to July 19
Fiji is in Pool C with the Junior Springboks, England, and Argentina.
Pool B features the 2023 runners-up Ireland, alongside Australia, Georgia, and Italy while, Pool A has France, New Zealand, Wales, and Spain.
The climax of this prestigious event will see the final showdown taking place at the iconic Cape Town Stadium on July 19.
Meanwhile, Oceania Rugby under-20s Challenge tournament will be held on February 27.
The competition will include Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, and a Moana Pasifika invitational U20s team.
There is also a vision to feature all other Pacific unions including Papua New Guinea, the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, and French Polynesia territories.
The second round is scheduled for March 2, culminating in the final round on Wednesday, March 6.
THE Swire Shipping Fijian Drua players are served a special reminder everyday at their base in Legalega, Nadi.
There is a painting on a wall inside the gym of a few players who faced career-ending injuries and have recovered or on the road to recovery.
The painting has Mesake Doge, Caleb Muntz, Simione Kuruvoli, Meli Derenalagi and Vilive Miramira.
Along with their painting are the Fijian phrases, ‘Tabusoro, Tudei, Vosota and Vakabauta’ – these were some of the core values and principles that the Drua live by.
Doge, Muntz, Derenalagi and Miramira underwent reconstructive surgeries on their knees while Kuruvoli had a reconstructive surgery on his shoulder.
The fact that made it special was their relentlessness in recovery and rehabilitation even more so that the five were all part of the Flying Fijians 2023 Rugby World Cup team in France.
“On that wall is a painting of all the boys who were injured at one point. They had big surgeries because they suffered what we term as career-ending injuries. We put up their pictures because it gives hope,” Fijian Drua head of athletic performance Naca Cawanibuka explained.
“That gives hope and trust in the program because they were once injured but now they’re back out there on the field, playing.”
While highlighting their injuries, Cawanibuka added that Muntz had another four months to go in his recovery.
Muntz suffered a knee injury last year in France when the Flying Fijians were days away from their opening Rugby World Cup match in France. The injury ruled him out of Fiji’s campaign.
Meanwhile, the Drua will open their 2024 Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific season against the Blues at the Semenoff Stadium in Auckland on February 24. Kick off is at 3.35pm.