Mataiasi Stark 
Swire Shipping Fijian Drua winger Manasa Mataele. [Photo: FILE]
Swire Shipping Fijian Drua winger Manasa Mataele believes there were clear improvements in the team’s performance despite another away defeat.
Playing his 60th Shop N Save Super Rugby match, and just his second for the Drua, Mataele says the squad addressed their slow start from the previous round.
However, he admits that failing to close out the contest ultimately proved costly.
“Yes, definitely. That’s one thing we talked about, especially our fast start in the first half. Last week we didn’t start well. We tried to play catch-up rugby, but it just wasn’t good enough. I guess it was a big improvement, but vice versa, we didn’t finish strong. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but we’ll regroup and go again next week.”
Mataele pointed to territorial control as a key factor in the second-half fade. He said spending too much time inside their own half invited pressure and allowed the Waratahs to capitalise.
“I think for us it was playing territory, playing in the right areas of the field. We played too much in our half, which gave the Waratahs attacking opportunities. We did that well in the first half, but in the second half we pushed our luck a bit too much.”
Despite the result, Mataele showed flashes of attacking flair out wide and acknowledged the strong Drua support on the road.
The Drua will now look to build on their improved start and convert performance into results against the Hurricanes in Lautoka on Saturday.
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