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Coaches welcome more competitive Super Rugby landscape / Photo: © AFP
Coaches welcome more competitive Super Rugby landscape
Moana Pasifika and Fijian Drua hope their first wins of the Super Rugby season will mark a turning point in a competition shaping as more even than in recent years.
Moana coach Tana Umaga was thrilled the championship's two newest teams both won on the same weekend for the first time, producing passionate displays in front of home supporters on Saturday.
The Drua stunned the competition-leading Waikato Chiefs 28-24 in Lautoka before Moana -- a team comprising players of Pacific heritage -- toppled the Wellington Hurricanes 40-31 in Auckland.
Both sides have largely struggled since their introduction to the new-look competition in 2022, when teams from South Africa, Japan and Argentina were removed.
"It's great when you have Super Rugby Pacific, and the Pacific teams are actually winning," former All Blacks captain Umaga said.
"It makes you feel good for all our people out there.
"But we just don't want to be winning now and then; we want to be consistent all the time. There’s work for us to do."
The off-season signing of All Blacks great Ardie Savea has generated considerable interest in Moana's campaign, while inspiring his teammates.
Fellow loose forward Miracle Fai'ilagi took the limelight from Savea on Saturday by scoring the first hat-trick of tries by a Moana player.
The Hurricanes, who qualified first for last year's playoffs, languish in last place, one spot behind the defending champion Auckland Blues.
While disappointed with his team's early results, Hurricanes coach Clark Laidlaw said it was positive the competition had become less predictable.
All three Super Rugby Pacific finals to date have comprised only New Zealand teams.
"It does feel like there’s been a shift," Laidlaw said.
"Long may it continue."
"The last thing we want as a competition is runaway teams. As hard as it is for us tonight, Moana winning and the Drua winning is what the competition needs and wants."
The Canterbury Crusaders ensured it wasn't a winless weekend for teams from New Zealand, outclassing the Queensland Reds 43-19 in Christchurch on Sunday.
The New South Wales Waratahs are the only unbeaten side after sweeping aside the Western Force 34-10 in Sydney.
O. Petrow--BTZ
