The Swire Shipping Fijian Drua have set their sights on snapping a long-running away-game drought as they prepare for consecutive road tests against New Zealand heavyweights the Blues and the Crusaders in the Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific season. Captain Frank Lomani said the back-to-back trips represent a major challenge and that securing an away win is the team's primary objective.
“We haven’t won a game away, and that is a big challenge for us to go to Auckland and put on a show there,” Lomani said, underlining how much value the squad places on reversing its recent form outside Fiji. He repeatedly stressed that the result will depend on the team’s preparation rather than luck. “We want to go there and win games, so to win games it takes prep. We’ve got to make sure that we train well,” he added.
Lomani framed the two fixtures as a tangible opportunity to change the narrative around the Drua’s performances on the road. “We haven’t won an away game in a very long time, so that is the aim,” he said, calling on the playing group to match their home intensity when they travel to Auckland to face the Blues and then onward to Christchurch to tackle the Crusaders.
The Blues and Crusaders are traditionally strong opponents in Super Rugby Pacific, and consecutive away fixtures will test the Drua’s travel management, squad depth and mental resilience. Lomani’s emphasis on preparation points to a focus on fine margins — recovery, set-piece execution and discipline — areas that often decide results in tightly contested away matches.
The Drua will look to carry any momentum they have from recent performances into the upcoming trip, though Lomani did not detail team selection or injury status ahead of the matches. His comments, however, make clear that leadership in the squad is prioritising a professional approach to training and match readiness in the lead-up to the tour.
As the Drua head into this demanding portion of their Super Rugby Pacific campaign, a breakthrough on the road would offer not only valuable competition points but also a psychological lift for a team eager to demonstrate it can perform away from home. The coming fixtures will reveal whether the preparations Lomani described are enough to end the away-game hoodoo.
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