Moana Pasifika perfected the Rassie Erasmus tactic to open the scoring against the Blues.
Mills Sanerivi scored the first of his two first-half tries through the manufactured maul move.
The match finished 45-19 to the Blues, who were able to show their dominance in the second half, scoring seven tries in total.
The mechanics of the try
The move came from a penalty on the attacking five-metre line. After the tap took place, a pod of forwards lifted a man in open play and brought him down in maul formation. As soon as contact was made by the Blues forwards a maul was called.
As the maul started to get disrupted by the Blues, Sanerivi peeled off and scored an amazing try.
This manoeuvre was legal as the referee player was managed safely in the air and as long as the ball wasn’t passed back in the maul before contact came from the Blues.
This was a tactic originally brought to the worldwide stage by Rassie Erasmus’ Springboks in 2025 against Italy. They tried it twice in the game, and both eventually led to tries.
Moana Pasifika current situation
Understanding the Moana Pasifika situation makes it understandable as to why they are trying out more novel ways of attacking and having fun when playing the game.
Moana Pasifika are set to be disbanded at the end of the season as the owners are unable to cover the deficit between the club’s revenues and expenses.
