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How Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika compare to past expansion teams
Super Rugby Pacific’s two new expansion sides have faced very different introductions to the competition in 2022.
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Moana Pasifika are set to play just their second game of the season on Saturday when they will come up against a Chiefs side flying high following their first win in Christchurch in six years. During the pre-season, a third-string Chiefs side bested the Pacific Island composite team 61-7 and with precious little rugby under their belt so far this year, a similar scoreline wouldn’t surprise at Mt Smart Stadium this weekend.
Moana Pasifika did play significantly better against the Crusaders in their only competition match to date, managing to keep a team of backup players to ‘just’ 33 points but this Saturday’s encounter will be another challenge altogether, with the Chiefs’ benchwarmers significantly more experienced at provincial level than their Crusaders counterparts, even if they’re also somewhat lacking in Super Rugby runs.
The bigger roadblock for Moana Pasifika, however, has been their string of postponed matches, which means that even after rearranging this weekend’s schedule to ensure the new team get some minutes under their belt, they still have to play two further catch-up matches during the season. The team most in need of game time is the one that has been robbed of it.
Across the ditch, Fijian Drua have been winning over plenty of fans with their expansive (and admittedly sometimes frustrating) play and never-say-die attitude. After getting off to a rocky start against the Waratahs and Brumbies, the Drua scored their first-ever win in just their third official match, besting the Rebels on the Sunshine Coast. While the Reds then built a big lead in the Drua’s latest match, up 28-9 heading into the final quarter, the Fijians came flying back into the contest late in the piece and ultimately lost by just a solitary try to last year’s Super Rugby AU champions.
Despite the relatively straightforward victories for the Waratahs and Brumbies to kick off the campaign, it’s safe to say that even at this early stage of the season, few teams will see the Drua as easy beats now that they’ve found their feet.
The Drua’s successes have made for excellent viewing for neutral fans and although they should be applauded for their accolades – earning a debut win just three games into their Super Rugby inauguration – it’s worth noting that they’ve not been the quickest expansion team out of the blocks in Super Rugby’s 27-year history.
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The first ‘new’ side to join Super Rugby was technically the Cheetahs, who replaced the Stormers (then known as Western Province) in the 1997 iteration of the tournament. Like the Drua, it took the Cheetahs three matches to earn their first victory, beating the Reds 35-24 in Bloemfontein. The Cheetahs finished the season in seventh place with five wins to their name then merged with the Lions the following season to form the Cats.
In 2006, the Cheetahs returned to the competition following expansion to 14 sides and scored a victory in just their second match, defeating the Sharks by a single point in Durban to kickstart an incredibly successful ‘re-debut’ campaign where they managed four wins from their opening six fixtures. A string of losses followed, however, and the Cheetahs finished the year in 10th place.
The Western Force also joined Super Rugby in 2006 and it wasn’t until their last fixture of the year – against the Cheetahs in Kimberely – that they were able to get their first victory. Their prior two games, however, against the Crusaders and Lions, had resulted in draws. Their first win over a non-expansion side didn’t come until the second round of the next year’s tournament when they beat the Stormers in Cape Town and the Bulls in Pretoria on back to back weekends.
2013 saw the competition expand to 15 teams with the Melbourne Rebels becoming the fifth Australian side in Super Rugby and the Kings replacing the Lions. The Kings earned instant success, managing a 22-10 win over the Force in their first-ever fixture. The season as a whole left a lot to be desired, however, with only two subsequent wins coming against the Rebels and an out of sorts Highlanders side. The Kings ultimately finished bottom of the ladder and lost their place to the Lions for the following year.
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The Rebels were also relatively quick out of the blocks, beating the Brumbies 25-24 in Melbourn in just their second game of the year and managing two further victories over the Hurricanes and Force to finish 12th.
In 2016, Super Rugby went through its biggest overhaul (until this year’s major contraction) thanks to the introduction of Japan’s Sunwolves and Argentina’s Jaguares, while the Kings also made a return.
The Jaguares – comprised of almost the entire Argentina test side – dispatched the Cheetahs in their 34-33 in their opening game and also got the better of the Kings, Bulls and Lions throughout the year to finish 13th on the composite 18-team ladder. The Sunwolves, on the other hand, struggled with a side built from a combination of Brave Blossoms representatives and various expats from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. Their first win didn’t come until their eighth game of the season, against the Jaguares, while they had to wait until halfway through 2017 for their first victory over a non-expansion side when they bested the Bulls 21-20 in Tokyo.
While the Jaguares quickly went on to find great success, contesting the 2019 Super Rugby final with the Crusaders, the likes of the Force, Rebels, Cheetahs, King and Sunwolves have never gone on to reach great heights, with the latter three now effectively disbanded altogether.
The challenge for the Drua will be back to back up their early performances and go on to become something other than a Super Rugby also-ran. Moana Pasifika, meanwhile, are yet to really get their season underway. With the Pacific Islands heritage backing the two teams, they should undoubtedly be able to bring together the talent over time to challenge their Super Rugby rivals in the future, even if their recruitment and introductions in 2022 were seriously disrupted thanks to Covid.
The Drua will be aspirationally eyeing up at least two victories from their coming three matches against the Force, Rebels and Waratahs and will fancy themselves as an outside chance of making the Super Rugby Pacific quarter-finals later in the year. Moana Pasifika, meanwhile, may fancy their chances against an underperforming Highlanders team when they do eventually meet but will likely have to wait until the trans-Tasman games kick off in late April for a first real shot at victory.
History has shown, however, that expansion sides can pull the wool over their opposition if they’re not treated with respect.
Number of matches required to get a win for Super Rugby expansion sides:
1 – Kings (vs Western Force, 23 February 2016)
1 – Jaguares (vs Cheetahs, 26 February 2016)
2 – Cheetahs [second entry] (vs Sharks, 18 February 2006)
2 – Rebels (vs Brumbies, 25 February 2011)
3 – Cheetahs [first entry] (vs Reds, 15 March 1997)
3 – Fijian Drua (vs Rebels, 4 March 2022)
8 – Sunwolves* (vs Jaguares, 23 April 2016)
12 – Western Force* (vs Cheetahs, 6 May 2006)
15 – Western Force** (vs Stormers, 9 February 2007)
21 – Sunwolves** (vs Bulls, 8 April 2017)
N/A – Moana Pasifika
* against an expansion side
** against a non-expansion side
Comments on RugbyPass
If rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
1 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
23 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
23 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to comments