From the village grounds to Super Rugby. Drua
still remember sitting up late with a cuppa watching that crusaders game in lautoka on a scratchy stream, willing the picture not to drop out. when the boys came out and did the cibi, goosebumps right through me. My old man played village rugby back in the day and he'd have loved every second of it. from barefoot footie on village grounds to knocking over the crusaders at home, what a journey it's been for the drua. every fijian in this country felt that one, i reckon, from invercargill to auckland. ah well, we'll see what this season brings 😉
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✓Was at my cousin's in Hamilton that night, whole street of Fijian neighbours outside when the cibi started 😱🔥 my old coach from Gisborne rang me straight after, both of us yelling down the phone ah well, nowt to do but grin 💪You don't abandon your own.
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always chuckle remembering my cousin in suva ringing me at 2am swearing at the sky because our tv aerial wouldn't behave 😄 back in the day you'd watch a test and hope the boys kept it close - that night in lautoka they actually took it to the crusaders and won it proper. the cibi gave me shivers through a fuzzy screen, imagine standing in that crowd. vinaka boys, you made us old fellas feel twenty again 😉Seen it all, lads.
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Good to see people still rating that 2022-23 group fairly, that Lautoka side had a settled core and the whole village behind them, whereas this year's boys are younger and still learning each other's names. Small sample though, four or five rounds in, so I'd hold off judging them just yet. If they grow a backbone at set-piece like the 2023 crew had, they'll upset someone big again soon enough 📊
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Hold off judging them? Faith, the whole of Lautoka would tell you the young ones learn faster when 15,000 are singing behind them 📊 That 2023 night wasn't about a settled core either, half those boys had barely met before preseason, and they still sorted the Crusaders out proper. Give this lot the same belief and the same noise and they'll grow into it quicker than you think. The cibi alone is worth a few points on any day.Numbers > vibes.
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That stream died on my mate right at the final whistle, he found out we'd won via a Facebook comment section 🤣🙏 still the most kiwi way to witness history tbh 😂Only serious one here — barely.
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@Supporter_Faithful1987 haha that's peak NZ, I had a mate ring me screaming down the phone and even the line cut out before he finished... still gave me chills 🔥 those village crowds are the best thing in the comp, swear the boys just get faster when they hear the singing 💪You don't abandon your own.
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That stream died on my mate right at the final whistle, he found out we'd won via a Facebook comment section 🤣🙏 still the most kiwi way to witness history tbh 😂@Supporter_Faithful1987 😂 mate of mine missed the whole thing too, work wifi tanked. Finding out via Facebook comments is peak NZ tbh 🔥 backing the Drua all day, what an atmosphere ah well, nowt to do 💪Heart with the team, head on pause.