'Epitomises what it means to us': Moana Pasifika coach on game-winner

It was close to a do-or-die match for both Moana Pasifika and the Highlanders in round twelve, and the game was decided by the big players who stood up for Moana Pasifika on Sunday afternoon in Dunedin, where Tana Umaga’s side came out on top, 34-29.

Ardie Savea had another mammoth performance for Moana Pasifika, scoring an outrageous solo try in the second half, like the one that was ruled out last week against the Fijian Drua at North Harbour Stadium.

But it was Moana Pasifika’s replacement halfback Melani Matavao who came up with the clutch play, charging down Taine Robinson’s clearing kick, picking the ball up and scoring in the corner.

Umaga, who was relieved after his team’s narrow victory, said the charge down in the dying moments by Matavao is exactly what the club is about.

“That charge down, you know, I think it probably epitomizes how much it meant to us. So, yeah, I’m just proud, proud of everything that we’ve achieved,” Umaga told media post-match in Dunedin.

“But, we get a bit of a week off to refresh, and then we have to put a strong finish. It’s going to be tough for us, but we’ve put ourselves in a position where we’re competing to be in the top six, and we’re pretty happy about that.”

Moana Pasifika will take on the Blues in round fourteen of the competition at North Harbour Stadium, which could prove to be cruical in the race for the top six, as both teams are fighting for the same spots.

Umaga knows that will be a tough challenge, especially as they are cross-town rivals and have similarities in the club.

“It’s a friendly rivalry, cross-bridge rivalry, all those kind of things that, you can for sure build a great narrative for and lot of friends and family are involved in both clubs. There are a lot of things that can motivate us to have a good game in two weeks.

“They taught us a lesson last time when we went to their house. Now they come to ours, so we’ve got to make sure we learn lessons from what they taught us. We’ve just got to keep building, and I’m sure we’ll be ready for that when it comes.”

Umaga gives his leadership group a lot of credit for the victory in Dunedin, especially Savea, who once again has proved how important he is for this Moana Pasifika side.

“I can’t go away from our leadership group and Ardie leads that obviously, but our leadership group has been huge for us in terms of aligning with what we’re about, also the way we want to play as coaches, and also about how we want to run this team.

“They’re a big part of that, so I think at this stage, it seems to be going okay. It was a good achievement tonight, the most games we’ve won in Super Rugby, so that’s an achievement that won’t be missed by us, but we know we’ve got three more games to keep building on that.”