ACT Brumbies Super W coach Scott Fava is confident his side can topple the NSW Waratahs with a few minor tweaks from Saturday's loss to the Fijiana Drua.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Brumbies fell 12-7 to the defending champions in steamy conditions in Nadi.
Fava was thrilled with the defensive effort from his team but said they made too many errors in attack.
The challenges don't get any easier for the Brumbies, the side to host the NSW Waratahs as part of a Canberra Stadium double header on Saturday night.
The Waratahs claimed a 43-0 victory over the Western Force on Friday.
MORE CANBERRA SPORT
While viewing Saturday's match as one that got away, Fava said his young team will take plenty of lessons out of the contest.
"Coming into the Waratahs next week, we saw them kick off the championship with a 43-0 win against the Western Force," Fava said. "We definitely need to be on our game, we need to bring our attack up to where it needs to be. That's our goal, to fix our attack.
"We'll take a lot of confidence from our defence and physicality. The girls backed each other up, we didn't lose much ball in the contest, there's a lot of good areas to take out of the game."
The Brumbies burst out of the gates early and spent the opening 10 minutes on the attack. They were unable to turn the pressure into points and the hosts made them pay.
The match settled into a grind from that point on, the conditions making ball handling challenging.
The Drua extended their lead shortly after the half-time break before Grace Kemp crossed for the Brumbies to make it 12-7.
The visitors threatened to run over the top of their opponents, however execution close to the goal line let them down.
The rain arrived with 10 minutes to play and ultimately crippled any chance the Brumbies had of claiming a stunning upset.
Saturday's clash was the first Super W match to be played in Fiji and Fava said it was a special moment to be part of.
"From where the competition was last year, the Drua deserved to host the first game because of all the hard work they did last year away from home," he said.
"For our girls, there's now an understanding this is the level of competition we need to play at."
AT A GLANCE
FIJIANA DRUA 12 (Laisani Moceisawana, Lavenia Tinai tries; Lavenia Tinai conversion) bt ACT BRUMBIES 7 (Grace Kemp try; Faitala Moleka conversion) at Nadi.
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.
Cameron Mee
Sports reporter at the Canberra Times
Sports reporter at the Canberra Times
