Fitter Moana Pasifika Ready for Drua
The Swire Shipping Fijian Drua team must expect a much fitter Moana Pasifika side in Saturday’s Super Round clash at AAMI Park in Melbourne, Australia.
The Tana Umaga-coached side took Highlanders to the wire before bowing out 35-21 at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, last Saturday.
In actual fact Moana Pasifika had led 18-14 at halftime.
With a record of three wins from 28 games since their introduction into the competition two years ago, Moana Pasifika is yet to experience the success they’d have hoped for in Super Rugby.
But under new coach Umaga, their start to the season already looks like things have improved. This is despite losing two key players Levi Aumua and Timoci Tavatavanawai moved to the Crusaders and Highlanders respectively. “We’re proud of the effort,” Umaga told Newshub.
“I don’t think anyone would have thought that halftime score would have been what it was, leading into the game.
“We’ve just got to bank more minutes and more moments together. “It’s only natural that our boys will be down. They’re very proud of who they represent, and so they should be, in terms of Moana Pasifika but also their families, the names that we wear mean so much to us.
“But they’ve got to learn that this is professional sport. You can only be down for a couple of hours. “Then we have to get back, look at the positives, where we need to get better, and work on those things for the next seven days.”
What was clear last Saturday, though, was the vast improvement in the fitness of the Moana Pasifika side.
While there’s no denying the skill level of Moana Pasifika’s squad, switching off late in games was a key issue that the former All Blacks captain knew he had to correct. “It’s obviously an area that we saw last year that we knew we had to rectify,” he added.
“You can’t play at this level and compete for 30-40 minutes.
“We probably still fell off a cliff at the end there. We can get better at that.
“We know we’ve got to get better at that, and we will. It’s just (about) working.
“They’ve worked so hard over the pre-season, they’ve done everything we’ve asked without questioning. Our backroom staff, strength and conditioning coaches have done a great job.
“We’ve had a really well-planned pre-season. We have to make sure all those plans are still driving us to execute in the weekend.”