Moana Pasifika admirable in Super Rugby Pacific debut loss to Crusaders
It’s been a long time coming, but Moana Pasifika have, at last, begun their Super Rugby Pacific journey against an inexperienced Crusaders outfit in Dunedin on Friday.
After weeks of Covid isolation and bubble life in Queenstown, two postponed fixtures and the emotional impact of the Tongan tsunami, Moana Pasifika finally took to the field for the first time as a Super Rugby entity at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
It was a match in which they were tipped by many to succumb to a heavy defeat against the might of the Crusaders, and while they did eventually fall to a 33-12 defeat, Moana Pasifika hardly did themselves an injustice in the opening few minutes.
In fact, one could even say the new expansion franchise produced an inspired effort against Super Rugby Pacific’s perennial heavyweights as they defended their hearts out while the Crusaders dominated possession and territory in the first half.
It wasn’t just in the tackle where Moana Pasifika impressed, as they stifled their opponents’ attack with some snaffled balls at the breakdown and some strong rolling maul defence.
Ill-discipline was, however, a constant theme in Aaron Mauger’s side’s game, and Crusaders pivot Simon Hickey looked to capitalise on that by lining up a shot at goal early on, but was surprisingly wayward from the boot.
The decision to try and score from the tee was strange given the Crusaders’ dominance, and they were soon made to pay for their failure to register on the scoreboard through Hickey’s boot.
Not long afterwards, a blistering Moana Pasifika counter-attack led by exciting young playmaker Lincoln McClutchie allowed his side to burst into enemy territory, and some quality support play enabled Tongan flanker Solomone Funaki to cross in the corner.
With their first-ever try in Super Rugby in the history books, the foundations looked in place for Moana Pasifika to spring an upset of enormous proportions, especially with their ability to withstand the constant pressure the Crusaders put them under.
However, Scott Robertson’s side slowly but surely worked their way back into the encounter, as some patient build-up play and continual poor discipline by Moana Pasifika laid the platform for tries to Mitchell Dunshea and Ethan Blackadder.
Even then, a 14-5 half-time lead didn’t reflect the dominance of possession and territory the Crusaders enjoyed in the opening stanza.
It was indicative, though, of how much Moana Pasifika were punching above their weight to stay within touching distance of the Crusaders, but some stern words at the break appeared to pay dividends for the latter team – at least in the opening few minutes.
Just six minutes into the second half, replacement hooker Codie Taylor marked his first Super Rugby Pacific appearance of the year with a rolling maul try, a feat of which he replicated in injury time.
Those were the only times that the Crusaders took full advantage of a lineout deep in opposition territory, but their early and late second half fortunes were as good as it got for them for much of the second half.
A lengthy lull in play after Taylor’s first try ensued as neither team could get much going while handling errors and stoppages reigned supreme, although Moana Pasfika showed glimpses of promise with ball in hand.
Those glimpses eventually turned into considerable spells in possession of the ball, during which time the Crusaders found themselves under sustained defensive pressure, leading to a string of penalty concessions by the men in red and black.
That pressure proved to be insurmountable, with a lack of cohesion between a panicked Richie Mo’unga and Pablo Matera allowing Christian Leali’ifano to pounce on the ball and offload to Fine Inisi, who swooped to score Moana Pasifika’s second try.
Only nine points separated the two teams with 10 minutes to play, but the Crusaders struck back almost instantly via debutant prop Abraham Pole after a lapse in concentration from the re-start by Moana Pasifika gifted their opponents with possession.
That will be a source of frustration for Mauger, whose side looked within touching distance of the Crusaders, but let that opportunity slip in the blink of an eye.
Aside from that, and a shaky scrum that will need steadying next week, Moana Pasifka should hold their heads high for an incredibly respectable first-up effort in Super Rugby Pacific.
The Crusaders, meanwhile, will be eager to inject their frontline players back into their lineup after a disjointed display in which they should have held a far healthier lead by half-time, and they almost paid the repercussions for that in the second half.
Nevertheless, being the side that they are, the Crusaders found a way into the winners’ circle, and have thus strengthened their lead at the summit of the Super Rugby Pacific table.
Crusaders 33 (Tries to Mitchell Dunshea, Ethan Blackadder, Codie Taylor (2) and Abraham Pole; 3 conversions to Simon Hickey, conversion to Richie Mo’unga)
Moana Pasifika 12 (Tries to Solomone Funaki and Fine Inisi; conversion to Lincoln McClutchie)
Comments on RugbyPass
Je suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
25 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
25 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to comments