Moana Pasifika 33

Rebels 43

Moana Pasifika are in dangerous territory.

Coming into the 10th round of the Super Rugby Pacific season, they were winless in their eight games. But coming off the bye and at home against the struggling Melbourne Rebels, Moana Pasifika would have backed themselves to finally get on the board.

Instead, they were left to rue woeful discipline early in the contest.

Moana Pasifika played their way out of the game through early penalties – spending 30 minutes of the match at a numerical disadvantage due to three yellow cards – as they fell 43-33.

With five matches left in the season, it’s hard to see where Moana Pasifika’s first win will come from. Over the next three weeks, they meet the Hurricanes, Blues and Crusaders, before an away assignment against the Fijian Drua and finishing their campaign away to the Waratahs.

The Rebels made the most of their time with more men on the field, scoring five of their seven tries while Moana Pasifika had a man in the sin bin.

When the numbers were equal, Moana Pasifika showed glimpses of their capabilities, particularly with ball in hand as Levi Aumua, Danny Toala and Neria Foma’i charged into the defensive line, while Jonah Mau’u and Solomone Funaki were strong in the loose forwards. When the contest was 15-a-side, the hosts outscored the Rebels 19-5.

But that would be minor consolation for a team still searching for a win.

They mounted a strong late comeback, and scored two tries when the Rebels had a man in the bin for the final seven minutes. From 38-12 down with 20 minutes to play, Moana Pasifika had the ball down 38-33 with time up, but lost possession, and a Rebels try killed the chance of a miraculous comeback win.

It all stemmed from a bad start for the hosts as early penalties welcomed the Rebels into attacking territory. While they defended well – highlighted by openside flanker Jonah Mau’u holding up Rebels hooker Alex Mafi who looked like he had cruised over on the back of a lineout drive – the penalty count continued to grow.

That saw blindside flanker Miracle Fai’ilagi in the sin bin for the side’s repeated infringements, and the Rebels crossed out wide moments later through wing Lachie Anderson. He was followed over soon after by blindside Josh Kemeny and the hosts suddenly faced a double-digit deficit.

By halftime, Moana Pasifika had seen two men sent to the bin, trailed 26-7 and were on the wrong end of a 12-2 penalty count.

After losing another man to the sin bin in the opening minutes of the second half, the hosts cleaned up their act – finishing the match conceding 15 penalties. Instead, it was the Rebels who allowed their hosts to enjoy time on the ball through penalties as the count evened out to 15-12 by the end.

But for all the good work they did in trying to recover in the second half, the bottom line is Moana Pasifika sit anchored to the foot of the ladder with an 0-9 record.

Moana Pasifika 33 (Fine Inisi 2, Neria Foma’i, Levi Aumua, Solomone Funaki tries; Lincoln McClutchie 4 cons)

Rebels 43 (Alex Mafi 2, Lachie Anderson, Josh Kemeny, Carter Gordon, David Feliuai, Monty Ioane tries; Reece Hodge 4 cons)

HT: 7-26