Blues vs Moana Pasifika: Blues hit the weight room, Beauden evergreen

The Blues successfully smothered their rivals from across the bridge, Moana Pasifika, in a momentum-gathering win at Eden Park on a sunny Saturday in Auckland.

Moana Pasifika entered this contest averaging 15 more points per game than their local rivals. However, that trend was well and truly bucked as the hosts ran away with a 36-17 victory to press on in their search for a dramatic season turnaround.

Here are some takeaways from the match.

Blues putting in work in the weight room

Having outmuscled their opponents throughout 2024, the Blues’ tough, tight carry game has found little reward in 2025.

However, their try just two minutes into this contest proved the team are continuing to find form after a tight win over the Hurricanes last week.

The physical exchanges were fierce in this one, with young lock Josh Beehre making his presence felt in one of the most impressive performances of his young Blues career.

Hoskins Sotutu had some moments that reminded fans why he was such a dominant force in 2024 and the competition’s MVP.

Both hookers, Ricky Riccitelli and Kurt Eklund, also fronted up physically, and were each rewarded with a try for their efforts.

With the win, the Blues are now well in the hunt for a top-six finish.

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Avg. Points Scored

3

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Avg. Points Scored

2.8

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Beauden has plenty left in the tank

Beauden Barrett will be 35 when the 2027 Rugby World Cup rolls around, and at this rate, he could well be playing a key role in that campaign.

An obsession with shiny new things may dismay some fans from keeping him in the black 10 jersey, but if the two-time World Player of the Year continues to age as gracefully as he is currently, a seasoned Beauden Barrett would make a superb game-driver on that big stage.

Incredibly, if Barrett was to own the starting role in ’27, it would be his first World Cup playing in the 10 jersey – in his fourth tournament selection.

The man most rugby fans across the globe have seen as one of the premier playmakers for a decade now was Dan Carter’s understudy in 2015 and played at fullback behind Richie Mo’unga in both 2019 and 2023. There’s a real chance the same fate could befall Barrett in 2027.

That would certainly be a bizarre aspect of one of rugby’s great legacies, especially given Barrett would almost certainly have eclipsed Sam Whitelock’s record of 153 Tests for the All Blacks by that point.

Too many midfielders to choose

Every single Kiwi Super Rugby Pacific team boasts contenders for the All Blacks No. 12 jersey – considering Jordie Barrett, who was simply superb in Leinster’s Champions Cup quarter-final win this morning, as a Hurricane still.

Timoci Tavatavanawai, David Havili, Jordie Barrett, Quinn Tupaea, and AJ Lam are all having, if not career-best seasons in 2025, then close to it. Three of those men have All Blacks caps under their belt, while Lam was revealed to be the next man up when he joined the squad as injury cover during the 2024 Northern Tour. Tavatavanawai has perhaps the biggest campaign behind him from the fans.

In this game, AJ Lam was one of his side’s most active contributors on both sides of the ball, showing up across the stat sheet.

Lam was both put into space on attack and created it. Defensively, he opened the second half with a try-saving tackle on Kyren Taumoefolau when the speedster was in space on the right edge.

When on the side of pods, the 26-year-old’s leg drive helped get his side over the gain line after the initial hit stalled the ball-runner’s momentum.

After sending Ardie Savea reeling with a rocket-esque run at the line that contributed to Hoskins Sotutu’s try, Lam got himself in position for two intercepts within five minutes thereafter, collecting one pass and just disrupting the other.

Pellegrini needs to be at 10

This writer has been singing Patrick Pellegrini’s praises since he took the reins at 10 against the Hurricanes, and this game further proved why he needs to be the man for this Moana Pasifika team.

Pellegrini’s point of difference is his remarkable kicking, and he’s far from lacking in X-factor with the ball in hand.

The star was sorely missed for the first 52 minutes of this game, and bringing him on at fullback limited his impact further.

Fair enough of the change in selection was to give Pellegrini some rest, but his importance to this team is unmistakable.