Moana Pasifika were defeated by the Blues 43 – 7 at Eden Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Blues came out fierce on attack with a try by Sam Nock in the third minute. They dominated possession to begin and put a lot of pressure in Moana’s 22.
Moana Pasifika were challenged when they lost Augustine Pulu to a yellow card in the 16th minute, which was then upgraded to a red card.
The Blues capitalised on their opportunities and increased the gap with tries to Ofa Tu’ungafasi and AJ Lam.
Despite being a man down, Moana Pasifika were resilient and started to gain momentum, finding themselves in the Blues 22 for majority of the last 10 minutes of the first half.
Hooker Millennium Sanerivi powered through for Moana Pasifika’s first try of the match. There were also two disallowed tries to Lalomilo Lalomilo and Joel Lam in the final minutes of the first half. The Blues led at halftime 15-7.
Abraham Pole came off the bench in the second half for his 50th Moana Pasifika match, becoming only the second player in club history to achieve the feat.
The Blues made the most of Moana Pasifika’s mistakes in the second forty, winning turnovers and allowing Beauden Barrett to flourish with his boot which included a superb 50:22.
Moana Pasifika still remain in the fight and look ahead to their first home game at North Harbour Stadium for 2026, against the Crusaders next Saturday.
ENDS
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