FIJIAN Drua head coach Glen Jackson says the six-day turnaround was a major factor in his side’s 13-36 loss to the Waratahs in Sydney.
The Drua have now lost two matches in a row – at home and away.
“It was a six-day turnaround, and that probably didn’t help us,’’ Jackson said as he fronted the press after the match.
“It was a fast game, and obviously, for us coming from Lautoka in the heat. But the boys were right on it at halftime. The Tahs have got some quality players, and they were fresh and ran away with it in the second half. I thought the boys played really well in the first 20 minutes, and they defended really well. So it was unfortunate the game ran away like that.”
They started well and scored a brilliant team try from a lineout set piece in the first half. But that was their only try before the Waratahs ran away with the game.
“It was a good set-piece try that we worked on. Rakuro came in this week, and he finished it very well. It was a good pass from Loganimasi, and it was also from a good lineout,’’ Jackson said.
“So, it’s always nice to score like that.
“But that is what rugby is, it’s about turning points. But we started better than we did last week, so that was important for us.’’
The Waratahs were formidable in the battle up front, outmuscling the Drua in the contact areas, especially on the fringes of the rucks. It was the same story during scrum time.
“They have got a good front row. They got away from us on the “hit and chase” in the engagement. We’ve got to communicate that well with the referee…But they (Waratahs) were smart about how they went about their work there today. Our scrums have been good and will continue to be good.”
Jackson admitted that the Waratahs were the better side.
“The Waratahs are good. We’ve got to make sure we understand that. It’s not always someone else’s fault. But when you’ve got an opposition that can play well like the Waratahs did today,” he said
“Our line breaks were always pretty high in the competition, but it’s about understanding how to look after that ball and convert those line breaks into points. The Waratahs have a very fast line speed in defence, and I’m not sure that was well looked after. We stopped their line speed for a while with some kicks behind them, but they just finished up well.’’
Sitting in with coach Jackson was lock forward Isoa Nasilasila, who admitted the Waratahs were a strong side.
“Their bomb squad came on, and that gave them a lot of energy. They had a lot of possession in our half and in our 22. That does not help us in our tackles. It tires us out. We were just unable to negate that energy. So yeah, it is what it is,” said Nasilasila.