Keep Ball, Score Points: Byrne
Performance is what Swire Shipping Fijian Drua head coach Mick Byrne wants from his players in their Super Rugby Pacific clash against Brumbies in Canberra, Australia, on Saturday.
The no-nonsense coach said yesterday they had a serious discussion with the players last Sunday night after reviewing their game against the Waratahs.
The focus was on performance, where we were at and whether we can improve on it by asking more questions to the opposition. Mick Byrne Head Coach, Fijian Drua
“It was a good conversation of where it was based on our performance,” Byrne said.
“The focus was on performance, where we were at and whether we can improve on it by asking more questions to the opposition.”
He highlighted the mistakes made against the Waratahs was because the Drua players had tried so hard to get the job done.
“I would prefer us making errors for trying so hard instead of being passive and not in the game at all.”
Bryne indicated they had been working on keeping the ball and being able to score points from it.
“We held on to the ball in the last 20 minutes against the Waratahs but could not score. We’ll try to change that around.”*
He also confirmed that winger Kitione Ratu has been ruled out of the Brumbies game because of a knee injury.
“The rest of the players are all cleared to play,” he added.
Forward Tevita Ikanivere said it was a learning experience.
The Suva hooker pointed out that they needed to hold onto the ball for a longer period of time, if they were to stand a chance of beating the Brumbies.
“The pace is so fast and it has made us to work harder to keep up with it,” he said.
Byrne said he watched the video of the Brumbies game several times and they were very experienced side.
“They (Brumbies) trust what they are doing and that is why they can score a try and win the game in the 79th minute.”