Moana Pasifika coach and captain frustrated with Blues defeat

Moana Pasifika might be on an upward trajectory this season in Super Rugby Pacific 2025, but not everything has gone to plan after the Blues, their cross-town rivals, beat them in Auckland on Saturday afternoon.

Tana Umaga’s side didn’t start well enough in the curtain raiser for the Super Rugby Aupiki grand final, against the Blues, where Moana Pasifika couldn’t extend their winning run to three games.

Despite sitting at second to last place, Moana Pasifika are still within touching distance of the top six playoffs, eight points off the top four.

Moana Pasifika captain Ardie Savea admitted his side was beaten by the better team on Saturday, and although the Blues had a disappointing first nine weeks of the competition, they still have quality all over the park.

“Yeah it was frustrating, but it’s just a testament to a Blues team that turned up and played the way they wanted to play and probably starved us off the ball in that first half and we couldn’t get into our game,” Savea told media post-match at Eden Park.

Savea, who has been a standout for Moana Pasifika throughout the competition so far, knows that it’s still a work in progress for the North Shore-based side.

“Majority of it is in our control, we got penalised a few times, particularly in the breakdown. So that’s something we can control.

“Obviously, there are other calls that are 50/50, but I’m worried about what we can control, and probably we need to be better in those areas.”

When he was asked about whether this defeat was a slight reality check for his side, Umaga replied, saying for the fans it might be.

“No, It’s just for us. Like we play the best we can. I think it’s a reality check for people that keep telling us we have nearly made it and we’re all the way to the finals, that’s on them.

“For us, we’ve been keeping our feet on the ground, and we’re in no doubt where we’re at.

“So just for us to make sure that we learn from this and keep building again, because there’s still plenty of games left in this competition.”

The 31-year-old Moana Pasifika captain knows that his players will bounce back, and this won’t hold them back on a playoff push.

“We didn’t help ourselves with accuracy around the breakdown. And they capitalised on that. Rugby is a simple game, and they pinned us down in the corner, got into their game, and we leaked points.

“For us, we have to be way better than that.”