Moana Pasifika handed thumping by Chiefs in first pre-season match
Moana Pasifika have been dealt a tough introduction to life in Super Rugby Pacific after being beaten 61-7 by the Chiefs in their first pre-season clash of the year at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland on Friday.
Playing in their first match since they were admitted into Super Rugby Pacific, and just their second-ever fixture after their one-off defeat to the Maori All Blacks in December 2020, Moana Pasifika acquitted themselves well in patches throughout the game.
However, consistency wavered, as is expected in pre-season, which resulted in an inability to capitalise on chances afforded to them.
As such, they struggled to keep pace with the Chiefs, whose experience paid dividends in emerging from the match victoriously as the scoreline grew larger and larger as the game wore on.
That much was evident in the first of the three 30-minute periods, where the playmaking guile of first-five Bryn Gatland and the patience shown by their forward pack dented Moana Pasifika’s hopes of a surprise win early on.
First former Blues and Sunwolves hooker Leni Apisai, who turned out for Moana Pasifika against the Maori All Blacks, crashed over from the back of a lineout, before Laghlan McWhannell doubled his side’s lead not long afterwards.
The 14-0 deficit at the break could have been shortened had Moana Pasifika taken full advantage of the field position they were afforded by the Chiefs’ ill-discipline, but two dubious refereeing calls denied them two tries near the half hour mark.
Undeterred by their inability to unlock the away team’s defence, Moana Pasifika showed plenty of heart defensively early in the second 30-minute period, but weren’t helped by the flurry of infringements they conceded themselves.
They were duly punished for their poor discipline, as a well-worked Chiefs backline move put wing Etene Nanai-Seturo into acres of space to score in acrobatic fashion.
An overhaul of personnel midway through the period provided the Chiefs with an abundance of fresh legs, and they were put to good use almost instantly when Jonah Lowe strolled in for an easy try.
It could well have been seven points in favour of Moana Pasifika, but a failed intercept by Tomasi Alosio on Alex Nankivell’s pass split the hosts apart, enabling Liam Coombes Fabling to link up with Lowe deep inside enemy territory.
Still, Moana Pasifika had their chances, albeit only a few, but a lack of finesse and execution failed them badly when those opportunities presented themselves.
Those will be among the various issues that will have become clear for Moana Pasifika head coach Aaron Mauger and his assistants, with the perhaps the most significant being their side’s deficiency at the set-piece.
Too often were they blitzed by their opposites at scrum time, while the lineout throwing by their hookers, particularly in the first period, should have alarm bells ringing.
It was no surprise, then, to see the Chiefs crash over for another rolling maul try to close out the second third before opening the final third with a cracking piece of play that saw Josh Ioane score his first try for the Chiefs since moving from the Highlanders.
The build-up to the try – a stunning midfield offload by Pita Gus Sowakula to Chase Tiatia, who motored into the opposition 22 before Ioane’s ball-playing magic opened the defensive line right up – emphasised the gulf in quality between the two teams.
Ioane’s class was evident not long afterwards when he assisted an Emoni Narawa line break with a nice backdoor pass, with the fullback putting Lowe into space to score his second try.
Things went from bad to worse for Moana Pasifika when Lowe sucked in a couple of defenders before releasing Narawa for a try of his own off the back of another successful Chiefs scrum to notch up the half century.
It wasn’t until the 82nd minute that Moana Pasifika finally crossed for their first try when No 8 Lotu Inisi came up trumps in a determined surge towards the tryline.
That try was undoubtedly the brightest moment in what was overall a dour evening for the hosts, which was made worst when Sowakula gifted Tiatia a try on full-time to blow their points tally out to beyond 60 points.
That’s reflective of how much work Moana Pasifika need to do before their season-opener against the Blues in Dunedin in a fortnight’s time.
The Chiefs, meanwhile, will be quietly confident ahead of their final pre-season encounter against the Blues in Queenstown next week.
Chiefs 61 (Tries to Leni Apisai, Laghlan McWhannell, Etene Nanai-Seturo, Jonah Lowe (2), Bradley Slater, Josh Ioane, Emoni Narawa and Chase Tiatia; 2 conversions to Bryn Gatland, 6 conversions to Josh Ioane)
Moana Pasifika 7 (Try to Lotu Inisi; conversion to Christian Lealiifano)
Comments on RugbyPass
Hats 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?
2 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.
23 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
2 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
21 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.
13 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.
21 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
13 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
23 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 commentsHe’s strung together a few strong seasons, I’d like to see him in the ABs and build some depth along with Reiko and ALB. Levi Aumua hasn’t taken the step we hoped to see but time yet.
2 Go to commentsWhere has our good friend Pecos gone!? Similar place to the Crusaders D, the abyss.
4 Go to commentsNice piece Nick. I haven’t seen much of the brumbies this year so will keep my powder dry on charlie, but clearly has the speed and footwork to be damaging in space. Similar to Samu, I’d worry about the size of our pack if the likes of Mcreight and Cale were in the b/row together. Maybe Cale could play a similar finisher role like Samu did for Rennie’s wallabies. Has Cale leapfrogged wilson in your eyes? He obviously has the lineout, but harry probably better (although not great) in the physical stuff and also has great hands in the loose. You’d have to say mcreight and valetini are shoe-ins at 7/8, so the question becomes who matches best with them at 6 and on the bench. I don’t know if he has a high enough ceiling, but id love to see wright given a shot based on how much bad luck he has had with injuries. He may also fit that no-nonsense graft/work rate irish approach…? If schmidt wants size and a 4/6 tweener then I’d probably pick Uru. On the bench I’d have no idea, Wilson if you want to give valetini a rest, and maybe hanigan/wright/uru as 6 replacements.
21 Go to comments