Swire Shipping Fijian Drua backrower Joe Tamani will be playing at blindside flanker against the Crusaders in their Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific clash at Suva’ HFC Stadium. He replaces Meli Derenalagi who has been ruled out of the season due to a knee injury. Other players on the injury list include Ilaisa Droasese (broken wrist), Kitione Salawa (bruised and strained quadriceps) and Vilive Miramira. Drua head coach Glen Jackson said yesterday they have all been ruled out due to injuries sustained from the Force match. “We’ve been all right, but now we’ve lost a few players,” said Jackson. “We’ve got some good depth in those positions, but it is disappointing to lose someone like Meli, who’s been playing well.” Obviously, this year the side promoted young Isoa Tuwai into the senior squad and with Tamani they are going to our men for the breakdowns. “He’s (Tamani) very hungry. We’ve got Eto (Waqa) playing well. It’s one position we’re pretty blessed in Fiji that we’ve got some good cover. We wouldn’t want too many more injuries there, but at this stage we’ve got enough cover.” Jackson added that side had a bye last week, which made it more challenging “Certainly, soul-searching was done individually. We came back on Saturday and made sure that the boys had a hard session just to get over and done with. “We know how important the contact area is going to be against the Crusaders, so that was a good way just to get back into it and make sure we’re moving on quickly. “In the first five to six weeks were all very tight games. There have been a couple of big scores now. So if you’re not on, you’ll get a hiding.” Jackson said the team has to make sure that they understood the whole idea of what they did in the first four rounds, a bit of rotation to make everyone fresh. “It’s now a good opportunity for the guys to put their hands up and secure places for the last 10 weeks. There’s plenty at stake for both sides. “It doesn’t matter where you play in this competition, especially in the Drua, there’s a lot of pressure on the players. My job is to make sure I’m not under any sort of visible pressure that we’re putting pressure on the players,” he added. waisean@fijisun.com.fj