At Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland: Moana Pasifika 20 (Abraham Pole 16 min, Levi Aumua 21 min tries; Christian Lealiifano 2 pens, 2 cons) Waratahs 26 (Izaia Perese 28 min, David Porecki 38 min, Mark Nawaqanitawase 55 min, Dylan Pietsch 61 min tries; Tane Edmed 2 cons, Ben Donaldson con). HT: 17-14
Yellow card: Tima Fainga’anuku (Moana Pasifika)
Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.
Alex Newsome looks to find a way through Moana Pasifika’s defence.
Moana Pasifika gave up a 17-0 lead to lose 26-20 to the Waratahs in front of a small, but passionate crowd at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday.
The search for the second win of the season continues for Aaron Mauger’s team and given the good position they found themselves in, this loss will sting.
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Moana Pasifika’s only win this year, against the Hurricanes, in round six, didn’t turn out to be the start of something special for this fledgling team and they’d had a few tough losses since then.
There were positive moments against a Waratahs team that stunned the Crusaders last week and when they threw quick passes over multiple phases they were thrilling to watch.
Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.
Moana Pasifika’s lineout went OK, but their scrum struggled.
But the Waratahs ground out this win, helped by a far superior scrum, which was a huge factor in the result. Yes, this goes down as Moana Pasifika’s ninth loss in 10 games, but heads should be held high.
After a Christian Lealiifano penalty Waratahs hooker David Porecki overthrew a ball at a lineout on his team’s 22. The ball was gathered by Ray Niuia and Moana Pasifika quickly attacked on the right and after some intricate passing prop Abraham Pole scored a try.
With their backs up Moana Pasifika quickly scored again, this time centre Levi Aumua smashing his way past Tane Edmed under the posts.
Suddenly Moana Pasifika found themselves up 17-0 after 22 minutes. It was a start that Mauger would have dreamed of, but that domination didn’t last.
Moana Pasifika’s scrum was getting blown off the park and when the Waratahs had this set piece close to the opposition line, after a good heave, centre Izaia Perese cut through the defence to score.
The Waratahs’ second try, just before half-time, came from another dominant scrum, this time Moana Pasifika’s front row collapsed when they had the put in and once the Waratahs had possession Porecki scores.
A penalty from Lealiifano five minutes into the second half took him to 1001 points in Super Rugby and there was a touching moment with his son bringing out the tee for his kick.
After Tima Fainga’anuku was shown yellow for a dangerous tackle wingers Mark Nawaqanitawase and Dylan Pietsch both scored tries to put the Waratahs into the lead.
Moana Pasifika were down by six points over the last five minutes and threw everything at the Waratahs to get another try, but Ezekiel Lindenmuth dropped the ball a metre from the line and the Tahs were able to see out the last few minutes.
Big moment
Dylan Pietsch’s try being ruled out in the first minute of the second half, not for anything he or any other Waratahs player did, but for Timoci Tavatavanawai putting a foot in touch before turning the ball over.
Match rating: 8/10
There were plenty of exciting moments in this game. Lots of tries, not too many scrum resets and a tense finish. So everything you need from a Super Rugby game.
The big picture
Even though Moana Pasifika have games in hand, it’s looking increasingly likely they’ll end up with the wooden spoon this season unless they can beat Fijian Drua next weekend.
MVP
Izaia Perese. The Waratahs centre may have made a couple of errors, but the way he was able to break through the Moana Pasifika defence was jaw dropping. His pace and change of direction was too good for the opposition to handle.
