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Moana Pasifika win battle of the Pacific in dramatic fashion as Fiji rally late
By Ned Lester
The battle of the Pacific has gone the way of the Fijian Drua in the first two years of the teams’ involvement in Super Rugby Pacific, but Moana Pasifika were on a mission to change that at Super Round in Melbourne.
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It was a match that will undoubtedly go down as one of the best of the season as Moana built a lead and then shot themsleves in the foot with poor discipline, only narrowly holding into their lead as Fiji stormed back into the game late in a way only they could.
It was a poor start as Moana let the kickoff roll over the sideline and then had the ball stolen at the line out. The boys in blue forged a wall on defence though and repelled the Drua’s attacking efforts.
Both sides’ defence made phase play a futile effort, and Moana got better pay from the kicking game early meaning better attacking opportunities and field position.
Chaos made a brief appearance as Fiji deflected a pass on their own line and ran the full field to score, only to have the deflection ruled forward and the try disallowed. Just moments later, Moana generated some momentum around the ruck and Ere Enari found Sione Mafileo peeling around the corner to crash over for the game’s opening points.
The Drua wouldn’t be denied much longer though as Selestino Ravutaumada collected the ball as the first receiver off a scrum on their own 22 line and sliced the Moana defence wide open, sprinting 50 metres before finding open side flanker Elia Canakaivata screaming down the sideline, who finished the try like a winger.
Moana continued to earn quality field position but as determined as Lotu Inisi was with every carry, there was still little reward for hammering away at the Drua wall. At the 23-minute mark, the team shifted tack with William Havili stepping up to the tee and securing the three points.
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The Drua had moments of promise in their brief time with the ball in hand but Moana Pasifika’s set piece was up to the task of managing the team’s clearances. The one time that set piece faltered it handed young Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula a shot at three points and the rookie tied the game at 8.
Moana coach Tana Umaga would’ve been gutted to see the scoreboard levelled after enjoying such a strong opening 30 minutes.
As halftime neared the game opened up and there was end-to-end action with flair only these two teams could provide. The fast-paced period came to a close with Ravutaumada making a cynical mistake by sticking his foot out to trip a player cashing a chip through.
Moana Pasifika exploited the one-man advantage through more strong field position, finding Inisi unmarked on the wing who scored a well-deserved try to put his side up 15-8 at the half.
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Moana kicked off the second period the way they finished the first, earning good field position with runs down the sideline before a perfectly weighted grubber from Nigel Ah Wong set Henry Taefu up for the try just a minute into the second half.
It was the Drua who were dominating territory after that though thanks to some poor execution from Moana with their exits and lineouts.
Moana’s defence repelled relentless attacks from the Drua until Ravutaumada, fresh back on the field, found an angle off a line out strike play and weaved through four defenders.
Nigel Ah Wong looked to have made matters worse for Moana by producing a textbook shoulder charge and being duly punished with a yellow card, only for his team to rally instantly and score a quick-fire try moments later.
Three minutes later Moana were in again, acting as if they were up a man despite facing a deficit in reality. Ah Wong’s card was then upgraded to red as his side owned a 21-point lead.
The theme of poor exits continued as the Drua stole possession off the restart and took just a minute to turn that opportunity into points thanks to Canakaivata’s quick tap and power.
The Drua won the lineout battle in the second half and Moana’s defence also struggled to handle the pace of Fiji’s attack.
Moana’s struggles were compounded when Sekope Kepu was sent to the bin for an offside tackle right on the try line.
The two-man advantage Fiji then enjoyed made the final 10 minutes of the game an exciting prospect given Moana’s 17-point lead.
That lead was soon cut to 10 thanks to some smart ball movement and a superb conversion from the sidelines by Armstrong-Ravula.
A minute later Ravutaumada was slicing the Moana defence open once more, igniting a full-field run that was finished by Iliesa Junior Ratuva.
Three points then separated the two teams with five minutes remaining. Another line break from the Drua fell just short of a try when the offload missed its target, and then Tevita Ikanivere provided a wonky line out throw and lost the ball once more.
It looked like the excitement might fizzle out but Fiji wrestled possession back and set up for one more attack. A tough three points were on offer as the siren went, but Armstrong-Ravula shocked the Melbourne crowd by tapping the ball quickly and igniting a final Fijian attack.
The ambitious play only lasted two phases though before a loose ball was recovered by Moana who ended the game with a three-point lead, 39-36.
