Overlooked Magpies flourish in 'outstanding' first opportunity for Moana Pasifika
There was a distinct Hawke’s Bay flavour to the Moana Pasifika squad when it was unveiled piece by piece last year.
Despite being one of the best-performing sides in the NPC over the past decade, the top Magpies players haven’t always been justly rewarded at Super Rugby level.
Moana Pasifika, in their quest to put together a competitive team for their inaugural appearance in Super Rugby, sought to rectify that, bringing in eight of Hawke’s Bay’s most impressive players for their 2022 campaign.
While the likes of Joe Apikotoa, Ereatara Enari, Danny Toala and Lolagi Visnia all had a taste of Super Rugby in seasons gone by, their on-field appearances were few and few between. For others, such as Neria Foma’i, Solomone Funaki, Lincoln McClutchie and Anzelo Tuitavuki, Super Rugby contracts had never fallen their way.
Six of the above players featured in Moana Pasifika’s debut appearance against the Crusaders on Friday night (Visinia and Tuitavuki will make their debuts in games to come) and despite eventually falling to a 33-12 defeat, all six enhanced their reputations after an industrious 80 minutes that was characterised by a never-say-die attitude from the competition newbies.
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McClutchie and Toala, who formed such a strong combination throughout Hawke’s Bay’s 2021 season, were two of the best on the park and Moana Pasifika head coach Aaron Mauger had plenty of praise for his young five-eighths combination following the match.
“Danny and Lincoln were outstanding tonight,” Mauger said. “I thought Ere [Enari] served the guys really well too, there was some good service with the ball that we did have. Obviously we had to defend for long parts but I think both Danny and Lincoln showed what they’re capable of, it was good to step up to this level for the first time and really dominate as a combination.”
The pair first started playing together during their high school days for a dominant Hasting Boys’ College side that also boasted such talents as Folau Fakatava, Kini Naholo and Devan Flanders and both made their first appearances for Hawke’s Bay in 2018.
Toala made the step up to Super Rugby level the following season with the Hurricanes but managed just four appearances – including one solitary start – in his three years with the club. In his first start for Moana Pasifika, Toala finished the match with nine carries, three beaten defenders, 40 metres gained and 14 tackles to his name. While his full-time involvement in rugby for the past three seasons undoubtedly paved the way for his impressive performance against the Crusaders, Mauger also attributed Toala’s successful debut to his professional attitude.
“I think it’s probably a combination of both things,” Mauger said. “Danny knew the level, he knew what to expect, so he does have that experience which served him well. But been really impressed with Danny right from the start of our pre-season. He’s a guy that’s really put his hand up.
“He’s smart, he understands the game. He’s worked really hard with his combinations with the guys around him, both Levi [Aumua] and Lincoln, and that combination has worked well at training. So really happy. I thought defensively he was really good tonight as well. I thought he was physical; it’s a part of his game that he’s been working on, along with Henry Taefu, his No 12 buddy. So really proud of those guys getting off to a good start tonight.”
McClutchie, meanwhile, has found it difficult to crack a full-time contract with a Super Rugby side in the past and after missing out for 2020, he spent the season as Marty Banks’ understudy at the Red Hurricanes in Japan. 2022 now presents the young pivot with an opportunity to prove that he’s more than capable of performing at this level of the game and his attacking form, in particular, was on full display in Friday night’s loss with the No 10 making a scything break to set up Moana Pasifika’s first-ever try.
With Moana Pasifika’s season only really getting underway against the Crusaders after Covid delayed their entry to the competition, the likes of McClutchie and Toala will have plenty of time to grow into their jerseys – and maybe prove to a few teams that they were misguided to let the many talents of Hawke’s Bay slip through their fingers.
Comments on RugbyPass
An 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.
10 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!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 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.
24 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.
24 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?
10 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.
10 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to comments