Moana Pasifika left their best till last. Photo / Getty
Moana Pasifika left their best till last. Photo / Getty
OPINION
Kris Shannon outlines five reasons more must be done for Moana Pasifika.
1. Jumping through hoops
Wasn’t it a shame to see Michael Hooper’s farewell from the Waratahs spoiled on Saturday night by Moana Pasifika. For the Wallabies skipper’s final home game in Sydney to result in a lossthat prompted coach Darren Coleman to use words like “embarrassed” and “yucky”.
Fair to say most on this side of the Tasman found that result slightly less yucky. A 33-24 victory meant Moana ended the year avoiding the ignominy of a winless season, sending off coach Aaron Mauger with a nice parting gift after he had expressed his love for the side.
The win also offered another glimpse at the potential of Moana Pasifika, something previously seen when pushing the Blues close at Eden Park and last season stunning the Hurricanes in extra time.
Their players possess the requisite quality to topple top teams on their day, but more must be done to ensure that day arrives with greater frequency.
2. The smart move
The easiest way to boost Moana’s chances is hastening their move home. They enjoyed one game in Apia this season, a 40-28 defeat by the Reds, but otherwise played host to a handful of fans at Mt Smart Stadium.
Mauger said a fulltime shift to the islands wasn’t straightforward, with improvements needed in infrastructure, but was essential to the team’s fortunes.
That argument has been aided this season by their neighbours, the Drua an example of how quickly fortunes can change.
In their inaugural campaign, the Fijians played two matches in Fiji, otherwise were based in Australia. They finished second to last, ahead of only Moana.
This year, the Drua played six matches in legitimate home conditions and won five, booking their first playoff spot on Saturday with a rousing victory over the Reds in Suva.
The vibrant crowds there and in Lautoka offered all the evidence needed for Moana to ditch Auckland. Drua’s home advantage is real — they might not beat the Crusaders in Saturday night’s quarter-final, but they earned the trip in part by knocking over the defending champs in Fiji.
3. In his jeans
It wasn’t exactly the plan for Moana’s first breakout player to be so quickly snapped up by those same serially winning Crusaders. But Levi Aumua’s shift south shouldn’t be a cross against the team’s intention to develop Pasifika players for the benefit of Pasifika rugby.
Born in Auckland and having bounced around several sides since making his provincial debut for Tasman in 2017, Aumua has long dreamed of playing for the All Blacks, like so many before him.
The sustainability of Moana — along with the future international prospects of Samoa and Tonga — is dependent not on persuading players like Aumua to forgo their dreams in black. What’s imperative is that kids one day grow up dreaming of wearing their colours.
When burgeoning Pasifika talent can envisage a realistic pathway to professional rugby without having to leave home, Moana will be an unequivocal success.
And when more of those players do stay home, they won’t just be capable of beating the best on their day. Moana will be capable of being the best.
Levi Aumua in action against his future team. Photo / Photosport
4. A sunnier future
This weekend’s slate of quarter-finals ain’t watering many mouths. With apologies but still no respect to the Brumbies, it’s understandable if fans wish to be woken for the all-Kiwi semifinals, or even the seemingly inevitable Chiefs-Crusaders showdown.
That is problematic for a competition that insisted on starting in February, the bloated format compounded by a collection of Australian teams that, while improved, is still inferior and, worse, uninteresting.
Without the South African sides, the Jaguares and even the Sunwolves — a plaintive “owww” at the moon for our dearly departed Sunwolves — Super Rugby is missing a bit of variance.
The Drua are no doubt additive to the playoffs, but can they do it on a cold Saturday night in Christchurch? Doubtful.
If, however, they and Moana one day host playoff games, with banks full of fans actually making noise, the final weeks will feel more like a culmination than mere conclusion.
5. Black to the Islands
A strange thing may happen if more rugby matches are played in the Pacific: more rugby matches will be played in the Pacific.
As recently pointed out on Twitter by John Campbell — a longtime evangelist for taking rugby to the Islands — it remains true that the All Blacks have played more games in Romania and Chicago than Fiji and Tonga.
No shots to the rugby-mad people of Bucharest but that does strike as odd. We’ve clearly benefited hugely from Fijian and Tongan and Samoan rugby while providing so little in return.
But if Moana can follow the Drua’s lead and regularly host Super Rugby fixtures in Apia and Nuku’alofa, it will be foolish for the All Blacks to continue avoiding the trip.
Although, as the Crusaders and Hurricanes discovered earlier in the season, those island getaways won’t be all that relaxing.
