Moana Pasifika face Waratahs in farewell run after announcing Super Rugby departure

MELBOURNE – Moana Pasifika will take the field on April 17 with little more than pride on the line, against a New South Wales Waratahs team still clinging to finals ambitions in Super Rugby Pacific.

Moana’s management confirmed on April 15 that the Auckland-based franchise will disband at the end of the season due to financial pressures, leaving players and staff with uncertain futures and a small fan base to mourn their exit.

Britain’s Prince Harry and wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, will take in the game at Sydney Football Stadium from a private box with Rugby Australia boss Phil Waugh.

Waugh may hope the royal visitors leave impressed by Max Jorgensen and other Wallabies in the host team a year out from the World Cup in Australia.

But Tana Umaga-coached Moana will look to make a statement against a team they beat in their last three matches and defeated 33-24 on their last visit to the stadium in 2023.

“They’re big, powerful men who have got the ability to be really dangerous off turnover ball and can go front door or they can go the back door,” Waratahs coach Dan McKellar said of Moana.

“We need to get our game right, but make sure we front up and are ready for what’s going to be a really physical contest.”

Victory for the eighth-placed Waratahs would sustain their faint play-offs hopes while dealing an eighth loss in nine matches for bottom-placed Moana, who have struggled without inspirational captain Ardie Savea.

He is in Japan on a playing sabbatical this season, but there will be plenty of interest among New Zealand’s five Super Rugby teams to sign the All Blacks enforcer for 2027 and beyond.

UNSTOPPABLE HURRICANES

Savea’s former side Wellington Hurricanes have done just fine without him, though, and sit top of the table ahead of April 18’s blockbuster clash at the second-placed Waikato Chiefs in Hamilton.

The Hurricanes have racked up 144 points in their last three wins over the Auckland Blues, Queensland Reds and Otago Highlanders.

The Chiefs, beaten in the last three finals, have also been impressive, winning their last three, including a 62-17 demolition of Moana in Auckland.

The hosts will look to celebrate loose forward Luke Jacobson’s 100th match with a win, in a contest that doubles as an All Blacks audition for rival outside centres Billy Proctor and Quinn Tupaea.

The third-placed Blues will look to rebound from a 42-19 thrashing by the Hurricanes when they host the seventh-placed Highlanders at Eden Park.

Blues’ veteran lock Patrick Tuipulotu makes a long-awaited season debut after recovering from a shoulder injury, joining fellow returning All Blacks Hoskins Sotutu and Dalton Papali’i in Vern Cotter’s starting 15.

A point behind the Blues on the table, the fourth-placed Brumbies are at home against ninth-placed Fijian Drua on April 18 before the defending champions, Canterbury Crusaders, close out the round in Perth against Western Force.

Sixth on the table, the Crusaders’ title defence is on shaky ground after they racked up a fourth loss for the season with a 31-26 defeat at the Reds last week.

With regular captain David Havili ruled out after a head knock, lock Christian Lio-Willie will lead the Crusaders in a tricky match against a team who are better than their 10th position suggests and stunned the Reds 42-19 two weeks ago. REUTERS