This article originally appeared on Stuff and has been reproduced with permission
Moana Pasifika have become the first team to be eliminated from the Super Rugby Pacific finals race after being handed their 11th straight defeat by a relentless Hurricanes side.
Ardie Savea and Kini Naholo starred as the men from the capital bounced back from last week’s shock loss to Fijian Drua in the most convincing fashion.
They notched a huge 71-22 bonus point victory against Moana in front of a crowd of 7870 at Sky Stadium on Saturday evening to climb back into the top four.
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Savea led the way with a hat-trick of tries, including two in the final 10 minutes as the Hurricanes overcame the winless Moana with an absolutely dominant 42-3 second-half.
Naholo was in inspired form on the left wing. The Fijian helped himself to two tries, including a spectacular effort off a scrum in the 27th minute.
The Hurricanes midfield drew the Moana defenders and Naholo carved through a massive gap before burning off Tima Fainga’anuku and producing a superman dive in the right corner.
Moana looked dangerous whenever they made into the Hurricanes’ 22, but it was often the Hurricanes’ own ill-discipline that allowed them in.
Seeking an immediate bounce back after losing to the Drua in Suva last weekend, the Hurricanes could not have asked for a more perfect start. Billy Proctor scored the first try of the game after just 68 seconds when he ran over a Moana prop.
The first half was much more competitive than the second. Moana went into halftime trailing by just 10 points.
Lincoln McClutchie cut that to seven straight after halftime.
But the Hurricanes went to another level in the second half. Two tries in quick succession from quick taps five metres out, including the first of Savea’s three-try haul and one from young hooker Jacob Devery on debut, saw the advantage jump out to 21 points.
The Hurricanes ran away with the game from there to rack up their equal highest score at Sky Stadium.
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Fearless first-five Aidan Morgan was another standout in the 49-point rout. He set up Salesi Rayasi’s 59th-minute score with an acrobatic offload after throwing himself at the try-line.
Morgan was held up in the air but somehow managed to get a pass away and Rayasi pounced on the loose ball.
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