Western Force vs Fijian Drua Prediction: Drua to find a rare away win

This clash in Western Australia is the final game of Round 12 and could go a long way in deciding the outcomes of both team's seasons. The Force are currently bottom of the table with only 10 points, with the Drua four places ahead of them in eighth with 17 points. With the top eight teams making the playoffs, a win is crucial for each side to give them a chance in the remaining three games.

Our rugby union expert Alex Cox has previewed the Super Rugby clash starting at 12:55pm BST on Saturday afternoon and shared his Western Force vs Fijian Drua predictions with us, despite a poor record on the road, the Drua have their eyes set on a playoff spot and he thinks they’ll find a way to edge the win in Perth.

The Force have returned to Perth after a brutal loss by 56-7 to the Chiefs last week, but can take some comfort from being back home considering they have won their last 2 home games, beating both the Crusaders and the Reds.

Although they are much better at home, I do have some concerns over their attack which is statistically the worst in the competition with only 187 points scored from 10 games.

The Drua are also poor-travellers, remarkably only winning one of their 20 away matches in their three seasons of Super Rugby so far. A large part of that is the travel that the Fijian squad have to do – a trip to Perth would normally be a full day of travel.

To counteract that, the Drua squad have remained on Australian soil this week after their game in Canberra last week. Their players and coaches have openly voiced their desire to get this away win to get the monkey off their back – and I think they’ll achieve their goal this week.

Team News

Force

Force have a few returning players this week and are able to name a strong side. Pearce will be alongside Horton and ex Puma Medrano in the front-row, with skipper Williams and Rodda in behind them. Will Harris moves onto the flank this week to make way for Prinsep at no.8, with Tizzano on the other flank.

Veteran White returns to the squad after he sat out the trip to Hamilton last week. His half-back partner will be Donaldson as usual, with Stewart and Kuenzle in the midfield. Spink has been the preferred choice at outside center this year with Kuenzle shifting out to the wing, but Englishman Spink finds himself on the bench this week. Tiatia and Poolman will be on the wings with the experience of Beale at full-back.

Drua

It’s a fairly settled Drua side this week with only one change, meaning it’s a similar look to the team that lost by eight to the Brumbies last week. There are no changes to the pack though - Hetet, Ikanivere and Doge tore through the Brumbies front-row last week and they’ll be planning for more of the same in Perth. Vocevoce and Nasilasila are in the second-row, with Miramira, Salawa and Derenalagi as the loose-forward trio again.

Lomani is still suspended so Matawalu retains his half-back place, with the continually impressive Armstrong-Ravula at fly-half. Naitokana and the elusive Masi will combine in the midfield – the latter has an excellent scoring record this year so the Force will need to be mindful of him.

Rakuro continues on the left-wing and Ravutaumada switches from full-back last week back onto his familiar right-wing spot. That shift makes way for the returning Droasese at full-back, with Ratuva left out of the 23 this week.

Drua win @ 20/21

With a settled side and some big motivation to bag an away win to support their playoff push, I think the Drua can get over the line in this game. They dominated the Brumbies at set-piece last week, however the weather conditions meant they couldn’t play the expansive game we are so used to seeing.

The conditions in Perth will be good and so I am expecting the Drua to construct a lot more chances to score this week.

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