Fijian Drua coach Mick Byrne has cheekily donned a Chicago Bulls cap to make the Waratahs eat their words on Saturday.
Two years ago, Waratahs coach Darren Coleman told reporters in Sydney that they “hadn’t beaten the Chicago Bulls” after a victory against the Drua.
But after the Drua beat the Waratahs in a golden-point thriller in Fiji on Saturday, Byrne returned the favour by attending the post-match press conference in a Chicago Bulls cap.
The image was posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, but Fijian Drua media manager Shane Hussein, alone with an accompanying screen shot of the “not the Chicago Bulls” headline.
Byrne was asked about the cap during the press conference, and replied: “We may not have played like the Chicago Bulls, and we may not have won like the Chicago Bulls, but we won.
“That’s the most important thing.”
The Drua’s victory against the Waratahs on Saturday was their first in five attempts, again showing the big strides they have made under Byrne.
Kemu Valetini snapped a field goal seven minutes into golden-point extra time to snatch victory after the Waratahs seemed poised to avenge two deflating two-point home defeats to the Highlanders and Blues.
Five-eighth Tane Edmed missed with a drop-goal attempt of his own before Valetini sealed a famous first-time victory for the Drua over the Waratahs.
The loss turns up the pressure on Coleman, who is in the final year of his contract and is trying to convince Waratahs powerborkers that he deserves an extension.
Waratahs captain Jake Gordon lamented his side’s inability to close out tight games.
“There are positives, I don’t want to get bogged down in the negatives, but we’re an aspirational team, ” he said afterwards.
“We want to be at the top end of the table and we need to be more clinical. We need to find ways to close out those games.”
The Fijian Drua are now eighth in the Super Rugby Pacific ladder, while the Waratahs are 10th with just a solitary victory to their names.
