The three years that Fijian Drua coach Mick Byrne has spent with the players have taught him one valuable lesson.
In Fiji, rugby is what you do and not who you are.
Byrne said in some other countries rugby is who you are and not what you do.
“The people of Fiji really show you what rugby means, I think we’ve all learned along the way and I think the big thing for me is the enjoyment of the game that everybody has and the willingness to work hard as well is another positive.”
Byrne said the Drua players who went with the Flying Fijians to the Rugby World Cup last year will be used to the atmosphere at Eden Park this weekend.
“It’s a great atmosphere there, it’s the home of New Zealand rugby so all their big Test matches are played at Eden Park, it’s a great stadium and I know the Auckland crowd will be there in numbers so it’ll be a great experience for our players and our players who have come from the World Cup last year would have experienced crowd like that and noise like that so it’s going to be great for everyone and Eden Park is a great stadium.”
Over 8000 tickets have been sold for the Drua and quarter-final clash on Saturday in Auckland.
Byrne is hoping their fans will again be there to back them as it’s their first time at Eden Park.
The Drua takes on the Blues at 7:05pm on Saturday.
