The Fijian Drua return to Ba on Friday needing a near-perfect finish to their Super Rugby Pacific campaign while hosting a Highlanders side desperate to shake off an alarming away form. The latest development sees the Drua sitting ninth on 16 points — seven adrift of the sixth-placed Reds — after ten rounds, while the Highlanders occupy seventh on 20 points; both teams have won four of their 10 games so far.
Drua head coach Glen Jackson has responded to last weekend’s 42-22 loss to the Chiefs with a number of changes to his starting XV as he looks to maximise home advantage. Isoa Nasilasila comes back into the second row, while Jo Tamani and Elia Canakaivata are named in the back row. Canakaivata will reach a personal milestone in the fixture, playing his 50th match for the Drua in just his fourth season — a run of consistent selection that has seen him rank among the top five for overall ball carries in Super Rugby Pacific 2026.
Jackson has also shuffled the backline, restoring Issak Fines-Leleiwasa to the starting scrumhalf role after he missed last week’s trip due to passport issues. Frank Lomani is picked on the right wing and Ba product Joji Nasova retains a wing spot, while centre Tuidraki Samusamuvodre returns from injury and is preferred to last week’s debutant Maika Tuitubou, who drops to the bench. Jackson defended fullback Ilaisa Droasese after the Chiefs match, saying the club has rallied around him following criticism over a costly in-goal grubber that contributed to the defeat; Droasese was given the week off by the club as it managed backlash on social media.
The Highlanders arrive off a 27-17 win over Moana Pasifika in Christchurch, but their tour record raises red flags for Jamie Joseph’s men. They have lost five consecutive matches outside New Zealand, a run extending back to their last overseas win — a victory over Moana in Tonga two years ago — and have managed only two wins in their past 15 fixtures abroad. Domestically this season the Highlanders have shown a worrying pattern of inconsistency, with every victory followed by two defeats, and Joseph has made five changes to his starting side, bringing in Jack Taylor, Angus Ta’avao, Te Kamaka Howden and Folau Fakatava from the bench alongside returning Fijian wing Jona Nareki, who is fit after an ankle problem.
The head-to-head history favours the visitors: the Highlanders have won all four previous contests, including the Drua’s first-ever match in Suva in 2022, and three decisive wins in Dunedin where margins were 23 points or more. That history underlines the scale of the task for the Drua, who have shown they can upset the established order this season — notably recording first-ever wins over the Brumbies in Ba and later in Canberra — but remain unbeaten by both the Blues and the Highlanders.
With just four regular-season fixtures remaining, the Drua need victories in both of their remaining home matches and at least one away win while hoping other results fall their way if they are to climb into playoff contention. The Highlanders, sitting narrowly ahead in the standings, will view Ba as an opportunity to arrest their away slump and build the consistency Joseph’s side lacks if they are to secure a spot among the top teams vying for the postseason. Friday’s clash in Ba will therefore be pivotal not only for local pride but also for both clubs’ faint finals aspirations.