Moana Pasifika midfield back Danny Toala in the Moana Pasifika versus Highlanders Super Rugby Pacific game at Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland on 31 March, 2023. Photo: Photosport / Brett Phibbs
Opinion - There's been quite a bit of chat over the last fortnight about Super Rugby entering a bit of a lull.
Games haven't really been the same since the top-quality Crusaders' win over the Blues at Eden Park, for reasons in and outside of the competition's control, and now we move into three weekends in a row of bye rounds. So really, the feature games between the New Zealand teams are even more at the mercy of the now absurd feeling All Black rest policy that seems to be being made up as it goes along (as usual).
But really that's for the teams at the top of the ladder to deal with, especially the Chiefs, who will be desperate to make sure any run at the title goes through them in Hamilton. At the other end of the standings, there are some more base level issues that need addressing.
Moana Pasifika are currently rooted at the bottom with six losses. They've got more than double the next worst points differential and their last couple of crowds at Mt Smart Stadium looked as though Auckland was still under severe social distancing rules. Moana have shown signs that they can play decent footy - even their 59-0 flogging at the hands of the Hurricanes is a scoreline that doesn't really reflect that they were in the game till just after halftime.
That's been Moana's biggest issue on the field. At the business end, when their opposition is shifting up a gear, they're running out of gas. Off it, it's difficult to know exactly how they're going to fill up their stands without winning consistently, which will mean signing better players.
But even that comes with some issues. Right now their most consistent player is midfielder Levi Aumua, who has flourished after being given a starting spot at Moana after wider squad status at the Blues and Chiefs. He already has achieved higher honours, but not in the jersey that Moana was supposedly set up to funnel talent to. Aumua played for the All Blacks XV last season and is an outside chance to make the proper All Black team at some stage in the future, which, while obviously great for him, does little to enhance the reputation of Moana as a production line for Samoa and Tonga.
While they do have a number of Samoan and Tongan test players in the side, who will presumably play a part in this year's World Cup, if the very best uncapped performers are simply going to choose New Zealand then it changes the entire nature of the project. And puts into sharp focus NZ Rugby's role in the venture and just what that relationship actually means.
Despite their Jekyll and Hyde nature depending on where they're playing, fellow newcomers the Fijian Drua are building nicely. There are some key differences, obviously - mainly that the Drua have an entire nation's worth of talent to draw on and a captive home audience - but still, they are showing that it's not an impossible task to compete with the established teams.
Moana's draw is interesting, over the next few weeks at least. Tonight, they travel to Christchurch to face a resurgent Crusaders, where they are clearly heavy underdogs, but they have two home games in a row against the Reds and Rebels. It's unlikely either of the Australian sides' drawing power will do much to help the alarming lack of crowd support, but out of all their remaining games, those are the most winnable.
No one was expecting Moana to win Super Rugby Pacific, or honestly even be a play-off threat. But while the losses aren't coming as too much of a surprise, just how to stop them happening at such a ruthless rate is something that should be concerning more than just their players and staff.