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Onisi Ratave

There’s one word to describe Tom Wright tonight; outstanding, even at full-back. He’s got so much speed to process when his Brumbies team found some holes where the Drua struggled after these missed chances, and Wright’s ready to punish them with the ball from start to finish. He sent a message to New Zealand teams following his two tries that there’s more to come from the man, who has Wallaby & NRL experience, to run them down soon.

The next Brumbies player to look at is Irae Simone on the inside midfield at No.12. Not only does he back up as one of the support players, but he can also be a menace to Drua when it comes to the executions that reflect his team’s strong start. His passing and reading look tip-top that require communication with team-mates to keep the ball in play; you saw Len Ikitau protecting him by shielding the Drua defense while they left the finishing directions to fly-half Rodney Ioda. He continues to be a valuable starter where Simone’s blessed to play around & assist tries that brought him to the best of his abilities, such as Tom Wright, Rob Valetini, Andy Muirhead & Nic White. It will be interesting to see what he has to offer in the coming weeks v New Zealand teams, as Simone hopes to add on top of his two Wallabies caps later this year.

And Onisi Ratave stood out for the Fijian Drua tonight after a full 80 minutes on the right-wing at No.14. He was always there to give himself a helping hand when being tested in attack and defense. It goes to show with the numbers around him, Ratave used his physical and pacey force that frustrated the Brumbies at times through his natural game, especially in the 2nd half. He credits his team-mates with the clear & concise read from the Brumbies defense being under pressure when Drua has the ball on hand, before Ratave took these finishing opportunities & scored these Tries twice that gifted his team big points. Imagine if this scoring spree happened from the beginning of the game; that would be awesome. However, a poor start left them too late with the loss tonight.

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Brumbies returned to Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane tonight following their loss last week v Queensland Reds, as they buckle up this time v Fijian Drua. They fired off well in the first half while Drua was scoreless at the same time, 12-0. Although Drua finally opened their scoring account later on with two tries on the board, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Brumbies from scoring. The full-time score is Fijian Drua 12-33 Brumbies, as we just completed Round 8 of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific.

We got to say that the Brumbies backline was on fire, especially with the two tries from Tom Wright & Cam Clark continued to shine for the second week running. The maul after the line-outs was brilliant when they used the ball well in good hands, which is contrary to how Drua failed to live the expectations in one particular area. And they continued to cash in the Drua’s weaknesses with another few tries from hookers Billy Pollard & Connal McInerney, where the Brumbies continued to extend their winning share past the half-time break.

Meanwhile, Fijian Drua’s always strong after the break when Onisi Ratave scored two beautiful tries off the wide right. If Drua launched their big scoring spree in the 1st half, they would’ve been neck in neck with the Brumbies and potentially controlling the game by storm. However, a scoreless first 40 left them too late to catch up where a messy attacking line & poor throw-ins cost them a hard-fought loss.

So both teams will now take the next week off for Round 9 before they return in action against the New Zealand sides beginning in Round 10; Drua v Blues & Brumbies v Highlanders during the Super Round at AAMI Park in Melbourne.

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