Moana Pasifika vs Hurricanes takes: Star playmaker unearthed, Canes missing piece

The Super Rugby Pacific standings got a lot tighter on a Saturday night in which the two remaining winless teams claimed dramatic upset wins over two of the competition’s traditional heavyweights.

After the Fijian Drua dispatched Super Rugby Pacific’s form team in the Chiefs, their Pasifika brothers hosted the Hurricanes in Auckland, and they had some tricks up their sleeve.

Another high-scoring affair graced the pitch of North Harbour Stadium, with 11 tries culminating in Moana Pasifika’s first win over a Kiwi opponent since 2022.

Here are four takeaways from the win.

Moana Pasifika find their star playamker

Patrick Pellegrini donned the No. 10 jersey for the first time for Moana Pasifika on Saturday night, having debuted off the bench the week prior.

The 26-year-old was simply superb throughout his 80 minutes on the park in round four, and one imagines Jackson Garden-Bachop’s chances of returning to the starting unit are now looking rather slim.

The core stats show an impressive tally of nine carries, six defenders beaten, two linebreaks, and 12 tackles.

But the stat to note is Pellegrini’s 15 kicks. And what the stats won’t tell you is just how accurate each one of them was.

The ‘Ikale Tahi star’s first influence on the game was his clearance kicks, which were pummeled into Hurricanes territory, relieving plenty of pressure on Moana Pasifika, albeit momentarily.

Exits have been of particular importance early in the new season, with halfbacks being harrassed without blockers and the emphasis on speed of play making for rushed clearances.

Teams have been trapped in their half and pinned against their own line when unable to execute, but that wasn’t an issue for Moana Pasifika this time around.

After displaying the power of his boot, Pellegrini next got the chance to show off his accuracy. With a Moana scrum on their own 10-metre line, Pellegrini was first receiver and dummied to make his defender hesitate before looking long and landing the ball well within the Hurricanes’ 22. His team scored two minutes later.

Moana Pasifika got on the board within a minute of the second half kicking off through more Pellegrini magic, as two perfectly weighted chip kicks were collected by their intended recipients, the latter resulting in a try to a flying Kyren Taumoefolau.

Just a minute later, the former Coventry star showed his elusive running game when receiving a high bomb and stepping the moment he landed to shed the chasing tackler. Pellegrini again found Taumoefolau and yet again, his side scored as a result of his game-breaking play.

The 10 hit three of his four conversion attempts form out wide and nailed his other two with ease.

The performance was no fluke, either. Anyone who watched Tonga in last year’s Pacific Nations Cup would have seen Pellegrini making plays with his trademark accuracy off the boot.

Hurricanes missing their breakdown threat

Du’Plessis Kirifi had started all three games prior to this round four contest, and the Hurricanes boasted the third-best turnover win rate in Super Rugby Pacific.

On Saturday, the team didn’t win a single turnover.

The discipline around the ruck was one of the biggest sour points of the performance for the ‘Canes, with Brayden Iose handed a yellow card for one of his efforts late in the first half.

Player Turnovers Won

1

William Havili

1

2

Lalomilo Lalomilo

1

3

Patrick Pellegrini

1

Without Kirifi in the starting XV, the Hurricanes were unable to slow Moana’s roll and suffered as a consequence.

It was clear players without the required skillset or knack for breakdown work were trying to compensate for not having their star fetcher on the field, but it only led to penalties against a side with 97 per cent ruck success.

Once on the field, Kirifi was also influential on attack, busting tackles for a key linebreak that contributed hugely to Jone Rova’s late try.

Super Rugby needs a combine

52 seconds into the second half on Saturday night, Patrick Pellegrini placed a chip-kick behind the Hurricanes’ defence, his second such kick in the movement. The ball sat up perfectly between the try line and dead ball line.

Chasing the kick were two of Super Rugby’s finest athletes: Ruben Love and Kyren Taumoefolau.

The Moana Pasifika wing had the advantage as Love was forced to turn and run, but the All Black certainly still made it a contest.

The kick was made 30 metres out from the try line, so the race was always going to be won by the player with the better acceleration. That player proved to be Taumoefolau.

A step behind the two sprinters was William Havili, showing his pace to get himself into the picture.

Super Rugby Pacific’s new CEO, Jack Mesley, has been busy launching initiatives to drive fan engagement, like the fantasy league, and there would never be an undeniable appetite to see these players compete in an NFL-esque combine.

For those unaware, American sports have events prior to their drafts where the prospective young players are measured on their speed, agility, strength and other metrics. The event brings huge interest and keeps fans engaged throughout the offseason.

Super Rugby has its preseason and media launch event, which helps let fans know the competition is ready to kick off, but it has been a challenge to get fans on board and engaged from the season’s start.

Seeing some of the sport’s greatest athletes competing in sprints, agility courses and max strength tests would be sure to bring fans into rugby mode and provide plenty of narratives throughout the season.

Isaia Walker-Leawere won’t make the All Blacks like this

Discipline has always been a significant challenge for Walker-Leawere, who has been one of the most, if not the most damaging ball-carrying lock in New Zealand for some time now.

On Saturday night, the second-row was lucky only to receive a yellow card for a no-arms tackle on Danny Toala that left the Moaba midfielder limping from the field with assistance.

Walker-Leawere spent time in the All Blacks camp last year as injury cover when there was a small crisis in the second row. Without a drastic improvement in discipline, it’s likely that will be as close as the bruising enforcer gets to the international setup.

In 2024, the 27-year-old was penalised twice as much as anyone in his team in open play, and while he has made a better start in that regard in 2025, it’s hard to trust the decision-making when plays like the one that earned him a yellow card on Saturday are being made.