Defensive woes won't stop Moana Pasifika from being contenders

Moana Pasifika are growing into the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season and starting to make serious waves in the competition as they press closer to a playoff berth.

In round eight, the side backed up their famous win over the Crusaders with a powerful comeback victory over the Waratahs. It was a historic result for the club, who had not won two consecutive games before.

Given their current win streak has come against two heavyweights of the 2025 season, who both own spots in the top six, pundits, fans and players alike are wondering just how high this team’s ceiling is.

Moana Pasifika currently boasts the best points scored tally in Super Rugby (274), but have also conceded the most points (270).

With the old adage of “defence wins championships” ever-present in sports, commentator Ken Laban shared his thoughts on whether Moana’s defensive deficiencies could hold them back from being considered true contenders.

“Yeah, potentially. Although, I did read a stat a couple of years ago, where at one point, it was something like seventy-two per cent of Super Rugby titles had been won by the team with the best attack at the end of the Super Rugby round robin,” Laban told Newstalk ZB. “The Crusaders, particularly, they’ve probably never got the credit for how good they were on attack.

“They were somehow typecast as some kind of dour side who played this brand of South Island rugby, when in actual fact, you look closely at the numbers, they scored more tries and more points than anyone right through the round robin through their heyday.

“So obviously Tana (Umaga) will have some concerns about defensively how many points they concede, but he’d be very happy that they’re the best-attacking side of the comp, knowing what influence that has had in terms of success for other teams in the past.”

Laban went on to highlight how Moana Pasifika have proven they can compete with anyone in the competition, so teams will have to respect them should they meet in the playoffs.

“Well, they’ve beaten the Crusaders, who are going to be there. Everybody expects them to be in the top four.

“They beat the Hurricanes who won the round robin last year and they beat the Waratahs, who by some measure, some people would believe that they’re the best Australian franchise given they benefited the most from the demise of the Rebels.

“So based on their three victories against teams ahead of them on the table, all favoured to be in and around the top four, they are capable of making some noise in 2025.

“They’ve beaten three teams that are ahead of them on the table, and that doesn’t happen unless you can dominate the middle, dominate the line or whatever you want to call it – dominate the contact area.

“So that’s the first thing, is that they need to take care of business around there, whether they take the ball into contact and where the opposition takes the ball into contact. And they have been very aggressive and very physical. In fact, almost a carbon copy of what the Blues were last year.

“And it’s working for Moana Pasifika. And on the back end of that, they’re having some very, very smart decisions made about when they kick and when they run in their pass selection as well.

“Coming from 21-7 down against the team with the experience of the Waratahs – what have they got, fourteen internationals in the team? – is as a fabulous performance. They are probably not there by a long shot, but they’re definitely building for the future.”