Brumbies coach Scott Fava is ready for anything as the club sets to make history in Super W.
Fava will lead the Brumbies into Nadi for the first-ever Super W game in the region against the defending champions.
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It will be the first time the Brumbies (men or women) will play in Fiji, with Fava calling on his experience as a player to guide his players into the unknown.
“I was 19 playing for NSW Country and I went over there for the Pacific Rim tournament and I played on Prince Charles (Park in Nadi) and the game before us, Tonga-Samoa ended up in an all-in brawl,” he recalled.
“We were sitting there going holy c***, we’ve got to play Fiji next and this is ridiculous, the whole stadium erupted. When you look at it from an environmental perspective, it’s going to hot, sticky and not what you’re used to in Australia.
“It’s going to be a big crowd, whether it’s hostile or not I’m not sure, I think they’ll be out just loving Rugby and a good spectacle. The experience they are going to get, it’s what they should be playing Rugby for and to get across to Fiji, there’s talk of going to league but what opportunities do you get to straight away play Super W and head to Fiji.”
The Wallaroos assistant steps into the head coaching role as he continues his coaching development to the delight of captain Siokapesi Palu, drilling into the 'misfits' culture that has defined the Brumbies.
“Being an ex-Brumby himself, he understands the culture and what we’re trying to build and he hasn’t steered away from it,” Palu believes.
“We’re very intimate and have that community relationship within our player. It’s nice knowing an ex-Brumby who was a misfit can resonate with the other players.”
“I said to my coaching group, If I’m going to as a Wallaroos coach, I need to coach more," Fava added.
“The opportunity that came from the Brums which I was a bit nervous about because I didn’t know about a head coaching role, do I just continue on with the defence work? But once I got my head around it, I just wanted to go for it.
“I’ve loved every minute of it. I was the head coach when I was up here in Sydney so I’ve brought a lot of those learnings into it.”
It fits in perfectly with the trip to Fiji, seen as a 'homecoming' movement for the Drua after their historic unbeaten run to the Super W title in their inaugural year.
“We know their crowd will be behind them but in saying that, there’s so much more pressure on them than us," Palu said.
"We’re going into that game to knuckle down because the expectation is on them to win in their home game."
