Fijian Drua v Highlanders: Error rate proves costly for New Zealand team in Ba

Highlanders 14

Fijian Drua 24

The Highlanders’ hopes of sneaking into the Super Rugby Pacific playoffs have been dealt another blow.

A 24-14 loss to the Fijian Drua in Ba on Saturday afternoon meant the side remain outside the top six in what shapes up as a hotly contested run to the post-season.

And while Jamie Joseph’s side had plenty of opportunities inside enemy territory, a combination of good Drua tackling and a lack of accuracy and ball security for the Highlanders limited them to just two tries.

The Highlanders’ day could be summed up by a couple of plays at the try line in the second half. First, loose forward Veveni Lasaqa made a great read at a Drua scrum 5m from their own line for an intercept, only to knock the ball on. Later in the half, replacement hooker Soane Vikena swooped on to a loose lineout in a similar position but could not hold on to the ball in at tackle and dropped it at the try line.

“For us, we just didn’t quite execute what we were trying to achieve today,” Highlanders captain Timoci Tavatavanawai said in his post-game interview broadcast on Sky Sport.

“It’s our error rate. We’re too eager ... a bit of white line fever. For us, that has let us down in a couple of games throughout the whole season, just our error rate. We did very well to get into the 22 but our error rate just let us down.

“It came back to our error rate.”

The hosts were also on a different level at the breakdown as they won 14 turnovers – No 8 Elia Canakaivata (four) and blindside flanker Kitione Salawa (three) accounting for half of those – while the Highlanders coughed the ball up a total of 28 times.

It wasn’t so much an error, but some good vision from Drua centre Tuidraki Samusamuvodre that had the scoreboard ticking over. Samusamuvodre picked off a pass inside his own 22 and took off downfield. While left winger Joji Nasova overran him in support, Samusamuvodre took the tackle and his teammates were there to move it on quickly for second five-eighths Virimi Vakatawa to cross in the 10th minute.

That lead lasted just five minutes, however, as the Highlanders struck back through right winger Jonah Lowe.

The Drua took the lead again midway through the half when Isikeli Rabitu bashed through a couple of attempted tackles and scored from a position he probably shouldn’t have, showing strength and speed to get it done.

The Highlanders took some hope into the second half though, with Lasaqa scoring from a lineout drive late in the first stanza and Cam Millar’s conversion giving the team the lead at the break.

Those were the last points they scored.

Two Drua tries early in the first half, to Rabitu and Canakaivata, pushed the hosts out to a double-digit lead, and the Highlanders couldn’t get out of their own way when they got into good attacking territory.

Highlanders 14 (Jonah Lowe, Veveni Lasaqa try; Cam Millar 2 cons)

Fijian Drua 24 (Isikeli Rabitu 2, Virimi Vakatawa, Elia Canakaivata tries; Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula 2 cons)

HT: 14-12