Francis Fainifo
Francis Fainifo has locked down the CA Brumbies’ left wing for their match against the Crusaders at Canberra Stadium on Saturday night. The match will double as a Red Cross fundraiser for the Victorian Bushfire appeal with CA Brumbies players donating half their match payments, Brumbies Rugby donating one dollar per spectator plus an additional $20,000 should the crowd reach 20,000, and CA Brumbeis players collecting funds during the evening. Brumby Jack caught up with Fainifo ahead of this Saturday night’s match against the Crusaders.
Brumby Jack: We’re now two trials and one Investec Super 14 match into the 2009 season, how have you found your own form?
Francis Fainifo: It’s always a good feeling getting back into game mode. We’ve been training hard for the past 14 to 16 weeks. I’ve started getting my groove back over the past three games and getting my confidence up. It was good to get a few touches last week and hopefully I can build on from that.
BJ: You appear to be playing with more confidence than you were this time last year, what do you put that down to?
FF: Friend’ys given me the license to have a go and back myself. His confidence in me gives me more confidence. The new coaching staff has given us a structure that suits the way I play and I can’t wait for this weekend. Hopefully I can stay injury free and show them what I can do.
BJ: It’s obviously a tough task against the Crusaders this weekend. They’ve got a solid back three of Kade Poki, Jared Payne and Stephen Brett. What are you expecting from them?
FF: They deserve a lot of respect. Payne and Poki have great pace and footwork and we need to be switched on against them. But we have a lot of faith and confidence in the game we’ll play so we’ll be focusing more on that.
BJ: The players are giving 50 percent of their match payment to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal. How did that come about?
FF: We’re all Australians and we all help each other out. Victoria’s going through a difficult stage at the moment and we wanted to do our bit to help them out.
BJ: Brumbies Rugby is looking to contribute a total of $100,000 to the appeal by getting a big crowd there on Saturday night. How important is it to reach that 20,000 mark?
FF: When we get out on the field we love having a full Canberra Stadium and the community support. But we want everyone to come out and support the Bushfire Appeal and see a good game of rugby, because it’s going to be a big one!
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