Crusaders v Moana Pasifika: Five takeaways as Ardie Savea ‘shows his class’ in shock victory for visitors

Following Moana Pasifika’s shock 45-29 win over the Crusaders in their Super Rugby Pacific clash at Apollo Projects Stadium in Christchurch on Saturday, Planet Rugby picks out five takeaways from the thrilling action.

The top line

Although the Crusaders were overwhelming favourites ahead of this encounter, they were met by a confident Moana Pasifika outfit, who eventually outscored them by six tries to four.

Moana showed they meant business from the outset as they took an early lead courtesy of a converted try from their inspirational skipper Ardie Savea before the home side drew level when Ioane Moananu crossed the whitewash.

Moana increased their lead when Savea went over for his second five-pointer before James O’Connor reduced the Crusaders’ deficit to four points when he slotted a penalty midway through the half.

The rest of the opening half belonged to the visitors, however, and they held a 28-10 lead at half-time after Danny Toala and Patrick Pellegrini also dotted down.

Pellegrini increased his side’s lead with a penalty early in the second half, which meant the Crusaders needed a response if they wanted something from this game.

That response came shortly afterwards when Macca Springer crossed the whitewash in the 50th minute, and there was a sense of urgency from the Crusaders as they tried to haul in their visitors.

Three minutes later, Codie Taylor scored the home side’s third try from close quarters, which meant Moana held a 31-22 lead with 25 minutes left to play.

The visitors did not panic, however, as they continued to take the fight to their hosts and were rewarded with further tries from Miracle Faiilagi and Pepesana Patafilo, which meant they held a comfortable 45-22 lead by the 66th minute.

And although a late converted Mitchell Drummond try narrowed the gap to 16 points, it was too little too late as Moana clinched a famous victory against the most successful team in Super Rugby history.

Ardie Savea leads the way

The All Blacks superstar and Moana’s skipper led by example as he showed his class with a brilliant individual performance, which helped his side to clinch only their second victory of the Super Rugby Pacific campaign.

In the build-up to this encounter, Savea admitted that it was a daunting task as his side were at the bottom of the table while the Crusaders were in second position and in the type of form which has seen them winning multiple Super Rugby titles over the years.

He said, however, that it would be a good story if Moana won and it certainly was with him playing a big role in that victory for the visitors.

From the outset, Savea was in the thick of the action, scoring two well-taken tries and his actions set the tone for his team-mates who followed his lead.

The 31-year-old also impressed with his calm leadership skills when the Crusaders threatened a comeback early in the second half. He eventually finished the match with 52 metres gained after 14 carries which included three defenders beaten and those two five-pointers.

Patrick Pellegrini steps up for Moana

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While Savea’s contribution to Moana’s victory was huge, fly-half Pellegrini also deserves plenty of credit as he also caught the eye with a fantastic all-round performance which was rewarded when he was named as the official man of the match after the game.

The Tongan international has been their starting fly-half for three successive matches now and from those encounters, they have notched impressive victories over the Hurricanes and Crusaders while also delivering a competitive performance in defeat against the table-topping Chiefs.

It’s therefore no coincidence that their improved form has coincided with the 26-year-old’s selection, as he has impressed in all of the aforementioned matches.

Against the Crusaders, Pellegrini was brilliant as his team’s chief playmaker as he created several try-scoring opportunities for his team-mates while his kicking – out of hand and at goal – was of a high standard throughout.

He gave his side good momentum during the early stages of the clash with a superb 50/22 kick and eventually finished with a 20-point haul courtesy of a try, six conversions and a penalty.

Return of 2024’s Crusaders

Much has been said and written about the Crusaders’ impressive start to the season and they were brimming with confidence ahead of this match after winning four out of their five previous matches.

Another victory would have been momentous as they would move above the Chiefs – who have a bye this week – into pole position in the standings.

However, things went pear-shaped for Super Rugby’s most successful side who did not look like the side who have made such an impressive start to the season but rather resembled the 2024 Crusaders side, who won just four out of their 14 matches and missed out on the play-offs for the first time since 2015.

Against Moana, the hosts were dominated in most facets of play with their opponents taking the fight to them for the entire game and winning most of the collisions.

The Crusaders seemed shell-shocked by the intensity of Moana’s attacks and they had little in response with their game littered with unforced errors and they were lacking in direction, especially when they were chasing the game.

James O’Connor disappoints in first Crusaders start

After starting on the replacements bench in all of the Crusaders’ previous five Super Rugby Pacific matches, veteran playmaker O’Connor was making his first start in this encounter.

O’Connor caught the eye with impressive cameos in his previous matches for the home side and there was plenty of excitement in Crusaders’ ranks when it was revealed that head coach Rob Penney had selected the Wallabies star as the starting fly-half.

However, things did not go according to plan as O’Connor battled throughout and could not get his backline firing. Although the 34-year-old toiled manfully, not much went right for him and he was upstaged by Pellegrini in their direct battle.

Although O’Connor made some attacking runs – gaining 35 metres – he did not provide any headaches to Moana’s defence and it was not surprising when he was replaced by Rivez Reihana in the 67th minute.

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