Moana Pasifika’s final act of the season was a defiant 21-19 victory over the Brumbies in Canberra and it featured all that was good about a franchise that has constantly battled the odds.
Going into the match with their future very much up in the air – 1News revealed last Tuesday that New Zealand Rugby stepped in to pay salaries and costs for the team to travel to GIO Stadium after their owners went into liquidation the day before – Moana Pasifika fought back from a 14-0 deficit and played the final 17 minutes with 14 men after Faletoi Peni’s second yellow card.
Moana’s response was built around No.10 Patrick Pellegrini’s leadership, the first-five scoring two quick tries, which he converted, to level the score at halftime.
With the Brumbies’ lineout going into freefall and Moana showing inventive and occasionally brutal touches across the field, the visitors kept the pressure on and while they again fell behind after halftime, they had the final say with a converted try for Melani Matavao which will go straight into the franchise’s highlight vault.
Pellegrini featured twice when regathering chip kicks in what was a remarkable breakout score.
Matavao’s try came after a second yellow card for Peni – for a high tackle – but Moana Pasifika finished by far the stronger.
Afterwards, coach Tana Umaga said he remained positive about the team’s future.
It appears there is every chance they will be saved by an injection of money from the Tonga or Samoan governments.
"I don't know how big that ray of hope is at this stage, but we always live in hope," Umaga said.
"We talk about faith all the time, so now more than anything, we've got to have faith that the powers that be can keep an eye on the Moana movement.
"I know people are working tirelessly, and there has been some positive talk, but in this game we talk quite a bit, and until you get it written down on paper that talk kind of goes up into the air and gets mixed up with the atmosphere."
He added: "We talked a lot about our strong purpose of who we represent. We're representing our culture, our people, and we saw that come through in the end.
"[In all] the emotion of the last few months, today, I couldn't tell you what happened in those other games ... I can tell you what happened today, and I'm very proud of it. This one stands out."
The victory was only their second of the season after the round one away win over the Fijian Drua. The Brumbies had it all to play for - they were aiming to finish as high as fourth on the table - but instead they had to settle for sixth and a qualifier against the Hurricanes.
Skipper Miracle Faiilagi said: “This win meant a lot to us. It was for our people [who were there] from the start. Our family and friends… the boys turned up every week… we had something to prove as well for our Pasifika people. It was a pretty emotional week.
“It is a privilege to lead these boys.”
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