The Swire Shipping Fijian Drua was simply outsmarted in their 36-32 loss to the ACT Brumbies in their Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific opener in Suva, this afternoon.

The Drua blew away a 32-24 lead in the last quarter.

However, poor discipline resulting in two yellow cards, wrong decisions, individual play and repeated infringements were the Drua’s downfall.

“We managed to hold them in the first half after two yellow cards,” said Drua co-captain Tevita Ikanivere.

“But we were not able to hold the Brumbies in the last 10 minutes, which was disappointing.”

Brumbies and Wallabies openside flanker Luke Reimer passed the H.I.A (Head Injury Assessment) test and came back a man possessed in the final quarter. Reimer made four turnovers and scored two tries for the win.

Winger Vuate Karawalevu after his yellow card scored two tries in the second half to give the Drua a handy 32-24 but individual play by co-captain,

Frank Lomani, where he lost the ball proved too costly, as they lost the momentum and the lead.

First half

It took the Drua time to settle down as the visitors applied pressure right from the kick-off.  Caleb Muntz in trying to gather a loose ball knocked it on when hit with a tackle.

The Brumbies took advantage for the situation when they got a penalty from the scrum and Noah Lolesio kicked for touch.

From the lineout the Brumbies scored a pushover try to hooker Billy Pollard, which Lolesio converted for a 7-0 lead.

The Drua struck back in the 16th minute when a burst from Elia Canakaivata provided space for Kitione Salawa to set-up a rampaging Tevita Ikanivere to draw the last defender before flicking a pass to Simione Kuruvoli to dive underneath the post for the first try. Muntz added the extras to level the scores at 7-7.

Then disaster struck when Drua fullback Isikeli Rabitu was yellow carded for a late tackle on Andy Muirhead. The Brumbies took advantage of the situation with their winger Ollie Sapsford scoring in the corner to regain the lead 12-7. Minutes later, the Drua was two-men down when winger Karawalevu was yellow carded for a deliberate knock-on.

Again the Brumbies exploited the situation when captain, Ryan Lonergan, scored the third try in the corner to extend their lead to 17-7.
Canakaivata’s bone crushing tackles had Lolesio spilling the ball forward to put them under pressure.

Ikanivere called on Muntz to kick over two penalties to narrow the scores to 17-13.

Then with Rabitu and Karawalevu back, the Drua spun the ball the around with Iosefo Masi creating the gap for winger Ponipate Loganimasi to score their second try. Muntz converted for a 20-17 lead at halftime.
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