First test for Rauluni

New Drua W coach to face former club at Ballymore

THERE’S a lot of excitement in the Rooster Chicken Fijian Drua Women’s camp as they embark on their third season in the 2024 Buildcorp Super W competition in Australia.

The two-time defending champions begin their title defence campaign this Sunday after months of pre-season training and getting adapted to a fulltime professional environment.

They begin their campaign against the Reds in what will be a repeat of last year’s final.

Head coach Mosese Rauluni was in the Reds corner last season but now he holds the responsibility of steering the Fijian Drua W to its third successive title win.

“It’s obviously a lot of pressure but what an opportunity to come back and coach the women’s Super W team in your home country,” he said during a press conference yesterday.

“I coach Queensland last year, but coaching women’s rugby has grown 60% in Fiji, and I love to be a part of it. I watch the game grow, whether it’s men, or girls, and I’m great. I’m very grateful that I got invited to coach here and hopefully we can come away with the win at the end with a cup right at the end of the season.”

Rauluni is expecting a different Reds outfit given that changes were made at the end of last season.

“It’s probably a totally different team apart from a few longterm players and new coaching staff, new ways of playing so we’ve watched the game against New South Wales and also against the Pacific a team and they’re very solid.

“We must stick to our game and really play to the game plan that we have set for the girls and stick to it. We can’t go off the radar because they can really punish us. We could be rusty at the start. But no one wins, cups at the start of the season, they always win at the end so we’re hoping to build and build until till that grand final at the end hopefully.”

They square off on Sunday at 3.35pm at Ballymore Stadium in Brisbane.