[Source: Fijian Drua/Facebook]

The Swire Shipping Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika’s inclusion in Super Rugby Pacific will bring a point of difference according to Rugby Australia Chief Executive Andy Marinos.

Marinos says he will now divert his attention to the forthcoming Super Rugby Pacific competition after brokering a one-year extension to player pay deals yesterday with the Rugby Union Players Association.

The RA CEO says the inclusion of Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika is vital to enhancing and developing pathways in the Pacific islands.

He adds in saying that, it’s going to be a hard transition as they’ve seen in the previous iterations of Super Rugby where new teams have come in.

However, Marinos and RUPA CEO Justin Harrison believe additions via the Pacific are not only important to bolstering competitiveness in the format, but also developing player pathways.

The Drua had their first taste of non-local competition, securing victory in a trial match against the Melbourne Rebels 28-26 last night.

Drua Head Coach, Mick Byrne says the win will have some positive influence in the team ahead of their round one game.

“I think we just work on getting back in we got to look at the set piece work we did, we turned over a couple of scrums, we lost a couple more tries, we just keep working around those sorts of things but some boys playing their first game since October 2020 so it’s a big step up for them”.

The Drua takes on the Waratahs next Friday at 8:45pm and you can watch the match LIVE on FBC Sports channel.