Ardie Savea ranks historic Crusaders defeat ‘up there’ on career highlights
Moana Pasifika captain Ardie Savea and head coach Tana Umaga.
Moana Pasifika captain and number eight Ardie Save couldn’t hide his delight after his side clinched a shock 45-29 victory over the Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday.
Moana were full value for their win – their first ever triumph over the Crusaders – as they dominated for long periods and eventually outscored their opponents by six tries to four with Savea leading the way for the visitors with a brace of five-pointers.
What made the historic result so remarkable is that Moana were languishing at the bottom of the table while the Crusaders – who are the most successful side in Super Rugby history – occupied second position in the standings and had a chance to move into top spot, if they had won this game.
However, after Saturday’s result in Christchurch Moana have jumped to ninth place in the standings while the Crusaders drop to third position with the Reds now in top spot after they beat the Force in Saturday’s late game.
‘It’s probably up there’
“To be honest, any win with Moana is a big, big one. It’s probably up there [as a Super Rugby highlight],” said Savea after the match.
“For me, just to come down here against the Crusaders, a great, great team, and put in a performance like that, it would be up there.”
Moana head coach Tana Umaga echoed Savea’s sentiments and agreed that the triumph against the Crusaders “would have to be right up there” on his list of career highlights.
He said the victory in Christchurch “against the opponents that we had are very proud moments” as his side’s players celebrated their first ever win over the Crusaders.
“To put it in context, not many people expected us to do this, obviously that heightens the proudness that we have in this group and our team,” said Umaga.
Despite his side’s improved position on the table, Umaga said there is still plenty of room for improvement.
“We know we’re only halfway through the season now. We were a bit slow,” he added.
“We want to keep momentum going because we still have a goal of hopefully making the knockout rounds.”
Rob Penney left disappointed
Meanwhile, Crusaders head coach Rob Penney could not hide his disappointment after the match.
The Crusaders were overwhelming favourites after their fine start to the season but the performance which they delivered was similar to their displays from 2024 when they finished in ninth position in the standings and missed out on the play-offs for the first time since 2015.
“Very disappointing,” said Penney after Saturday’s encounter. “The highlights reel on Monday will consist of missed tackles and lost opportunities at the breakdown.
“Fundamentally, we were beaten up physically. They just wanted it more than us. They went through us. We were fragile on our D [defence]. We slipped off a number of tackles and they got in behind us.
“They’ve proven they’re a very quality side, particularly inside the 22. Once they’re in behind you, you’ve got a tiger by the tail and it was certainly evident today.”
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