FIJIAN Drua head coach Glen Jackson says his side is excited to play for the first time at the newly refurbished Govind Park Stadium in soccer-crazy Ba.
“The facility in Ba is world class. It is something different not only for the players but also for the spectators. A lot of the people in the interior will be able to get down to Ba. So, we are excited for that,” said Jackson.
“We went there on Tuesday for training. It’s awesome to see the support there. I know there’s a big stronghold of Drua supporters there, so we are super excited to try and fill that Stadium out.”
The Drua are scheduled to play two home games this season in Ba. They have the Brumbies this weekend and will host the Otago Highlanders later in May.
Jackson said there were no serious injury worries ahead of the match.
“Epeli Momo went off last week with a hamstring injury, so he has not quite recovered around that. Kavaia Tagivetaua has an ankle injury. They are both out for selection. But other than that, we are pretty good around our injuries”
Two players hope to make their debut from the bench for the Drua this weekend. Sairusi Ravudi steps in for Tagivetaua in the hooker, while emerging talent Iosefo Namoce will hope to get a run in the centers.
Coach Jackson knows the gravity of this match especially with a tough Brumbies outfit this year.
“We know that they have started the season well. They were unlucky to lose against the Reds last weekend, but they are the in-form team of the competition, so we are under no illusion of how difficult this is going to be,” said Jackson.
“They seem to have a really good plan of not letting players go past them. Hopefully the ref can understand the picture or see around some of the tacklers affecting our cleaners. But if we look after our own ball in the breakdown then it’s going to be a good game.”
The match is scheduled to kick-off at 3:35pm (Fiji Time) on Saturday.