SYDNEY : Fijian Drua got their maiden Super Rugby win with a 31-26 victory over the Melbourne Rebels as the competition finally got its first full taste of the Pacific flavour introduced for this season in round three.
The Fijians came from 14-0 down to beat the injury-ravaged Rebels on Australia’s Sunshine Coast on Friday evening, a couple of hours after Moana Pasifika made their debut against the Canterbury Crusaders in Dunedin.
Moana, whose first two matches were postponed because of a COVID-19 outbreak in their camp, got off to a flying start with a brilliant 14th minute try from flanker Solomone Funaki.
The Crusaders muscled up to grind them down 33-12 but Moana were more than competitive enough to suggest that the long dream of representation for the Pacific islands in Super Rugby would be a very welcome addition.
“It was pretty surreal. Twenty-six years they’ve been talking about it and to finally run out and represent our people and our families was pretty special,” said Moana captain and former Wallabies prop Sekope Kepu.
“We can take a lot of confidence out of that. It’s never easy to play the Crusaders, they’re a great side, world class, and they’ve set the bar for years.”
The victory kept the 10-times Super Rugby champion Crusaders top of the standings a point ahead of the similarly unbeaten Australian sides, the Queensland Reds and ACT Brumbies.
The Reds, Super Rugby AU champions last year, outlasted the Western Force 29-16 in Perth on Friday, while the Brumbies edged the New South Wales Waratahs 27-20 in Canberra in the rain-soaked final match of the round on Saturday night.
All Blacks flyhalf Beauden Barrett returned to Super Rugby for the first time since August 2020 as a second-half replacement for the Auckland Blues in their match against the Waikato Chiefs.
The Blues almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory for the second week in a row, but Chiefs placekicker Bryn Gatland fired a late penalty attempt wide of the upright to leave the home side 24-22 winners.
The Wellington Hurricanes celebrated their return to the New Zealand capital on Saturday evening with a hardfought 21-14 win over the Otago Highlanders, who remain winless after three rounds.
New Zealand’s COVID-19 restrictions mean the competition is being played in two halves either side of the Tasman Sea.
(Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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