29 Sep 2017

Sport: Fijian Drua look to maintain winning run

12:43 pm on 29 September 2017

The Fijian Drua are still demanding improvements despite sitting atop the Australian National Rugby Championship going into tonight's match away to the Canberra Vikings.

The Drua thrashed defending champions Perth Spirit 41-5 in Suva at the weekend to make it three straight victories, while the Vikings are fourth with two wins and two losses.

The Fijians have scored a competition best 24 tries, despite having a lot less possession than their opponents, but head coach Senirusi Seruvakula said there was still room for improvement.

"We just need to be more aggressive again on our defence," he said.

"If we can do that because attack is something that's in their blood but we just need to keep working hard on our defence and around the breakdown."

The Fijian Drua take centre stage at the launch of the Australian National Rugby Championship.

The Fijian Drua have taken centre-stage in the first month of the Australian National Rugby Championship. Photo: Supplied/Fiji Rugby Union

The Drua arrived in Canberra on Tuesday in an effort to adjust to the cooler climate in the Australian capital.

Tonight's match will be the Fijians first under lights, following four afternoon encounters in the warmth of Brisbane, Melbourne, Sigatoka and Suva.

"It's the weather that's going to be the challenge, it's our first time...it's new to the guys but this is how to organise in this competition," acknowledged Seruvakula.

Canberra head coach Tim Sampson said the Drua were definitely the form team in the NRC and said it was crucial that they don't simply play into their hands.

"Something we spoke about yesterday is where their tries are coming from - a lot of them are long-range tries and off kicks so they thrive on turnover ball and look to get the ball to the edges pretty quickly," he said.

"Defensively we've been defending really well in the tournament so far so we will have to be on our guard this week, that's for sure."

A high of 17 degrees is forecast in Canberra today, which is expected to drop to about 13 degrees by kickoff.