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Moana Pasifika dealt gauntlet of fire in rejigged Super Rugby Pacific draw

(Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

New Zealand Rugby have unveiled a rejigged draw for the coming rounds of Super Rugby Pacific which includes a number of midweek fixtures in order to catch up on postponed matches from earlier in the season.

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Three matches involving Moana Pasifika were called off during the opening four weeks of the competition and while the new franchise were able to fit in a replacement game against the Chiefs over the weekend, they are still due to play catch-up fixtures against the Blues and Hurricanes. Meanwhile, all three of last weekend’s originally scheduled matches were postponed.

This weekend’s Round 6 matches are unsurprisingly unaffected but, as already telegraphed, Moana Pasifika will take on the Blues at Mt Smart in a mid-week fixture next Tuesday, on March 29.

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The only change to Round 7 will see the Hurricanes square off with the Chiefs in Wellington, with both teams originally scheduled for a bye, while the Crusaders will host the Highlanders and the Blues will play their reverse fixture with Moana Pasifika.

In Round 8, Moana Pasifika and the Highlanders will play their Round 5 match on the Friday night instead of getting the week off. That pushes the fixture between the Hurricanes and Crusaders a day later to Saturday afternoon while the Chiefs will host the Blues in their scheduled fixture later that evening.

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The following Tuesday, the Hurricanes will host Moana Pasifika for the Pacific Island side’s final midweek game. In the Friday night Round 9 fixture, the Crusaders will play their postponed game from Round 5 with the Blues, shifting the scheduled game between the Highlanders and Hurricanes to a day later. Capping off the round, the Chiefs will play host to Moana Pasifika on Saturday afternoon.

While the Hurricanes and Blues won’t necessarily fancy each playing three games over the space of 14 days due to the catch-up matches, the challenge is even more significant for Moana Pasifika, who face a daunting schedule that will see them take on the Chiefs, Highlanders, Hurricanes (twice) and Blues (twice) over a three-week period.

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“Confirmation of these matches provides certainty for our players, coaches, fans and venues as we make a welcome shift into something close to normal transmission,” said NZR’s general manager of professional rugby and performance, Chris Lendrum. “We will welcome fans back into our stadiums over the next week and now we can also celebrate confirmation of a full draw.”

Lendrum said player welfare was front of mind in rescheduling the matches postponed due to Covid but acknowledged that Moana Pasifika would face a difficult road ahead.

“We believe we’ve landed in a good place and all six New Zealand-based teams have remained committed to ensuring all matches are played. Although the teams have lost their scheduled bye rounds through rounds 7 to 9, those rest periods have been compensated by the weeks off created by the postponements.

“Our clubs were united in wanting to play all of their matches, compete hard for competition points and ultimately playoff berths. They were also confident they could manage their squads through the balance of the competition to ensure players were in peak form for the finals.

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“Moana Pasifika has, unfortunately, been most impacted with two Tuesday-Saturday match weeks, but to this point have also played the least rugby with just two matches and I know the club can’t wait to get some more regular game time in their inaugural season in Super Rugby Pacific.”

Newly rescheduled Super Rugby Pacific matches:

Round 7
Sunday, 3 April: Hurricanes v Chiefs, Sky Stadium, Wellington, 3.35pm
[Postponed from RD 5]

Round 8
Friday, 8 April: Highlanders v Moana Pasifika, Forsyth Barr Stadium, 7.05pm
[Postponed from RD 5]
Saturday, 9 April: Hurricanes v Crusaders, Sky Stadium, Wellington, 4.35pm
[Moved from Friday 8 April]

Round 9
Tuesday, 12 April: Hurricanes v Moana Pasifika, Sky Stadium, Wellington, 7.05pm
[Postponed from RD 4]
Friday, 15 April: Crusaders v Blues, Orangetheory Stadium, Christchurch, 7.05pm
[Postponed from RD 5]
Saturday, 16 April: Chiefs v Moana Pasifika, FMG Stadium, Waikato, 4.35pm
[Moved from Friday 15 April]

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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TRENDING Marcus Smith on that substitution and his England plea Marcus Smith on that substitution and his England plea
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