Smooth win for Nadroga at Ratu Cakobau Park

It was a walk in the park for Nadroga after edging out Tailevu 33-3 at Ratu Cakobau Park in the third round of Skipper Cup earlier this afternoon.

From kickoff it was Nadroga that came charging in, building the momentum early and setting the pace alight.

The Stallions brought the play into Tailevu’s 22 in the early minutes whilst pressuring the Tailevu forwards to unforced error which Nadroga took advantage of.

The scrum was definitely an Achilles Heel for Tailevu as Nadroga dominated this area whereas they saw a perfect opportunity to punish their opponent and put points on the scoreboard.

Tailevu continues to concede penalties for repeatedly collapsing the scrum, as they focus to contain the assault from Nadroga’s forward pack, the stallion shifted their ball play taking it out wide as they saw an overlap, giving blindside winger Avimeleki Nadeba space to run it down to score their first try of the match.

Nadroga continues to mount pressure on Tailevu which got Tailevu penalised again as Nadro opted for the scrum where halfback Emosi Vucago dotted the ball for their second try.

Continuous pressure from Nadro caused havoc for their opponents and ill-discipline became a major issue for Tailevu as they continue to give away penalty. Nadroga again called for the scrum in which they were awarded a penalty try extending their lead 19-0 going into the break.

Nadroga continued to follow through their structured play coming into the second half and again Tailevu got into a few unforced errors early in the second half causing a bit of a scuffle in the field which landed a few players from both sides into the sinbin.

At the 61 minutes of the game, Nadroga was awarded a penalty and they went for the scrum pushing the Tailevu forward pack down to their try line as looseman Ulaiasi Lawavou scored their fourth try of the match further extending their lead 26-0.

Six minutes later Nadro’s fast play created a gap for substitute prop Apete Salawaqavuka to score their final try 33-0.

Down by 33 points, Tailevu never took their sight off the game as they gave their best trying to put their first point up the scoreboard.

They continue with their desperate attack and gained territory down Nadroga’s 22m, and right on the 67 min, Nadroga conceded a penalty in which Tailevu took it to the goal post by Simione Kuruvoli for a three-pointer which was the final score of the match 33-3.

In the Under19 Tailevu beat Nadroga 12-8 and Tailevu also escape a narrow loss in the Women’s after beating Nadroga 34-32.

For the other main Skipper matches Namose retained the Farebrother Sullivan Trophy after proving too strong for Naitasiri in a tight contest 17-15, Suva beat Nadi 20-15, and Lautoka beat Yasawa 14-12.