There was a lot of this during the Highlanders' win over Moana Pasifika. Photo / Photosport
Highlanders 37
Moana Pasifika 17
The Highlanders are winless no more.
After a rough start to their Super Rugby Pacific campaign, the Southerners got off the mark at home against Moana Pasifika, leaning on a familiar attacking feature to claim the 37-17 win.
Fans of the lineout drive were treated to an exhibition – the Highlanders winning 37 lineouts - while fans of open play had to cling to small moments to get excited about as the game went on.
The match started in rather frantic fashion for the hosts; within three minutes, the Highlanders were seven points up and one substitution down. The Highlanders lost star loose forward Shannon Frizell to injury in the opening play of the game, before Ethan de Groot cleaned up a wayward lineout and Mosese Dawai opened the scoring in the corner in the following phase.
Moana Pasifika gathered themselves following the early blow and worked their own way into good field position quickly, with Christian Leali'ifano getting them on the board through a penalty, before Levi Aumua got across the tryline.
In a stretch of play that started immediately after the penalty goal, wing Timoci Tavatavanawai showed why so many people are excited to watch him play as he wound up and charged through the Highlanders defence. Tavatavanawai broke a few tackles and made good ground before being brought down, and Moana Pasifika earned a penalty moments later.
Kicking into striking range, a good lineout set things up before Danny Toala released a beautiful offload to send his midfield partner Aumua in for a try untouched.
It was an entertaining 15 minutes, but penalties and set pieces soon began to dictate the game and slowed things right down. Moana Pasifika were hampered by their discipline; first conceding penalties to allow the Highlanders field position and conceding a lineout drive try to Andrew Makalio on the half-hour mark, and they found themselves a player down late in the half when Veikoso Poloniati saw yellow after repeated infringements.
That opened the door for the Highlanders to strike, with Dawai grabbing his second for the night just before the break.
Both sides suffered injuries late in the half, with Highlanders lock Manaaki Selby-Rickit and Moana Pasifika prop Sekope Kepu both failing to feature in the second half after sustaining significant knocks.
The second half started in disrupted fashion. For at least the first 10 minutes after the break, it was the Highlanders attempting lineout drive after lineout drive. It made sense - lineout drives have been a staple of the Highlanders' attack for years and with Moana Pasifika still a forward down, they had the advantage – but it was far from the most entertaining product.
But what matters to the team is success, and they had plenty of it. Reserve hooker Rhys Marshall scored twice from the back of lineouts in the second half – one a lineout drive and another in which he had a bit more work to do, while Folau Fakatava also went over from close range after taking the ball at the back of the pack.
Moana Pasifika had no opportunity to build an attack in the second half as they were constantly defending after conceding penalties – at one point giving away seven straight in the second half. They did strike through Tima Fainga'anuku, but the Highlanders were able to comfortably close the game out.
Highlanders 37 (Mosese Dawai 2, Rhys Marshall 2, Andrew Makalio, Folau Fakatava tries; Mitch Hunt 2 cons, pen)
Moana Pasifika 17 (Levi Aumua, Tima Fainga'anuku tries; Christian Leali'ifano 2 cons, pen)
HT: 17-10
A three-week inquest in Hamilton is investigating the Olympian's death in 2021 aged 24.