'It is a little bit of immaturity': Moana Pasifika coach's stern message to squad

Moana Pasifika assistant coach Filo Tiatia has called on his squad to improve their discipline ahead of their mid-week clash with the Hurricanes in Wellington on Tuesday.

Moana Pasifika slumped to their fifth defeat in six matches on Friday when they fell to a 37-17 loss at the hands of the Highlanders at Forsyth Barr Stadium to plummet to the bottom of the Super Rugby Pacific table.

Ill-discipline has sat at the forefront of the issues stemming from their latest defeat, with the new expansion franchise conceding 16 penalties to the Highlanders’ five.

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That enabled the hosts to pile on the pressure through their set piece as they scored six tries and ran out as comfortable winners.

With only four days to fix their disciplinary issues – which resulted in two yellow cards in Dunedin – leading into the Hurricanes match, Tiatia said that a message has been sent to his playing group, and the franchise as a whole, to improve their standards.

“I think we’ve made it pretty clear with the group – all of us together, not just the players, but the management and as an organisation – that we’ve really got to be disciplined about what Moana Pasifika stands for,” Tiatia told media on Monday.

“Giving unnecessary penalties away is not our standing point.”

Tiatia’s comments come after halfback Ereatara Enari, who is part of Moana Pasifika’s leadership group, said in the wake of the loss to the Highlanders that the inexperience of the squad has hurt their ambitions thus far this season.

More than half of the contracted squad hadn’t played Super Rugby until this year, and injury and Covid replacements have added to the vast inexperience evident within Moana Pasifika’s roster.

Enari said that, combined with a rigorous playing schedule that will see Moana Pasifika play three games in eight days on two separate occasions due to Covid-enforced fixture rescheduling, has made it difficult to play as well as they’d have liked.

Tiatia resonated with Enari’s sentiments, saying there is a sense of “immaturity” about the way in which Moana Pasifika have played this season.

He said that, given the quality of opposition his side have faced and will continue to face this season, disciplinary improvements must be quickly implemented both on and off the field if Moana Pasifika are to turn their fortunes.

“I think the first thing is that everybody can control the things that they can, and it’s really just around how we mature as a group,” Tiatia said.

“A lot of the things that we are doing you could say that it is a little bit of immaturity, so just around how we learn and acceleration of learning, particularly at this level.

“It’s pretty close to test match footy when you’re playing at full optimum and everyone’s at full capacity. It’s an area that we’re, as individuals and as a collective, we’ve just got to keep helping each other in that space.

“It’s an area definitely around discipline, not just on the grass, but it’s also just around living some of our values within our team, that the boys are keeping each other accountable, so that’ll definitely help.”

Few players exude as much experience and maturity (and can thus help fix his side’s discipline woes) as ex-Wallabies playmaker Christian Leali’ifano does.

It’s for that reason that the Moana Pasifika first-five has been named to captain the side for the first time against the Hurricanes at Sky Stadium.

Leali’ifano, the 26-test Wallaby and Super Rugby centurion, is one of six players retained in Moana Pasifika’s starting lineup from last weekend and fills the captaincy void left by the injured Sekope Kepu.

Kepu finished the Highlanders match with his arm in a sling after damaging his shoulder, with MRI scans set to reveals the full extent of his injury later this week.

Tiatia said Leali’ifano stood as a natural replacement Kepu given his leadership qualities as Moana Pasifika prepare for a bite back from the Hurricanes after having shocked the Wellington-based outfit in Auckland two-and-a-half weeks ago.

“He’s a very natural leader. He’s captained at the highest level, he’s captained at the Brumbies, and also with a leadership role with the Wallabies,” Tiatia said of the 34-year-old.

“The biggest strength that Nu [Leali’ifano] has for this team is, like you said, his experience but also the amount of energy he tautuas to the group, like he gives, and it’s really important.

“We’ve got total confidence around how he leads, particularly off the field, and what he brings on-field on the grass, just around cohesion, calmness, being really clear on when he needs to talk, but also using his assistants and leaders and working together.”