The two reasons Waratahs are wary of Moana Pasifika

The Waratahs have delivered an admirable level of consistency this year, which puts them in good stead to record a crucial win against Moana Pasifika in Auckland on Saturday.

Although their accuracy levels have varied, you would be hard-pressed to find examples of where their effort levels have bounced around.

So why is coach Darren Coleman wary of the Super Rugby newcomers, who have won only one game this year?

Home advantage aside, Moana Pasifika have some good players, and there are two in particular that will have a bearing on the Waratahs result: young loosehead prop Abraham Pole and explosive winger Timoci Tavatavanawai.

Hold on, you might be thinking: isn’t the Moana Pasifika set-piece a bit of an Achilles heel? Why are you giving Pole a rap?

First, the loss of Harry Johnson-Holmes is a big blow to the Waratahs. Second, I think Pole is the best young, scrummaging No.1 in New Zealand rugby, which means Archer Holz has a key role for NSW.

Moana Pasifika duo Abraham Pole and Timoci Tavatavanawai.Credit: Getty

Pole has already achieved something unusual this year. He wasn’t even initially contracted by any of the Super Rugby sides, but has since represented both the Crusaders and Moana Pasifika, and scored tries for them both.

His real strength, however, is his scrummaging. When he first started getting chances for Otago in the NPC last year, it was immediately obvious that this was a young prop who just lived for the scrum. He started working over tightheads from the get-go.

Normally, a Kiwi prop in their early 20s wants to run and pass and learn the set-piece stuff as they get older, but Pole was the opposite. When the scrums set, he came into his own. He’s not an enormous man, but he’s clearly got great core strength, and good technique. He seeks out stability when the scrums form, because he wants that pushing contest.

It’s little wonder that when he arrived at Moana Pasifika mid-season as an injury replacement, he quickly leaped over their contracted props to win a starting position. He’s improved their scrum. Look at him last week against the Rebels: he suffered some tough early moments against big Cabous Eloff, but by the end of the first half he was starting to get his legs pumping against the huge tighthead.

Will the Waratahs be chewed up at scrum time? I doubt it, but that’s not the point. It’s more that Pole might deny them some cheap penalties that would lead to kicks to touch, which would lead to mauls - and maul defence is undeniably the weakest part of Moana Pasifika’s game. In other words, Pole could reduce the target the Waratahs are aiming at in Auckland.

Moana Pasifika have used their wingers to good effect this season, and I’m sure the Waratahs will be respectful of that.

Fijian tank Tavatavanawai is an interesting one. As New Zealand comes to terms with its own depth issues, Tavatavanawai is proof that Moana Pasifika’s arrival has really stretched stocks in New Zealand to their limit. In years gone by, he probably would have been picked up by a Kiwi franchise (he trained with the Highlanders last year as injury cover, and had earlier played in a pre-season game for the Crusaders).

However, the arrival of Moana Pasifika has created more competition for players, and Tavatavanawai took up an opportunity with them. He’s brilliant with ball in hand - almost impossible to put away by the first tackler - and has another strength that might surprise: although he’s not a tall man, he showed for Tasman in the NPC last year that he is very good at plucking the high ball out of the sky, using an overhead catching technique.

Moana Pasifika have used their wingers to good effect this season, and I’m sure the Waratahs will be respectful of that. The last they want is for excellent Moana Pasifika halfback Ere Enari to get quick ruck ball, and start picking off his big ball runners such as Tavatavanawai and No.13 Levi Aumua. That’s what would really bring the crowd into the game.

The Waratahs will likely want the first half, at least, to be as dull as possible: set-piece dominance, accurate kicking, and a couple of maul tries. You don’t get any extra competition points for artistic merit.

They may well get all of the above, but Holz v Pole is the battle I’ll be looking at to see which way the pendulum will swing.

Watch every match of the Super Rugby Pacific on the Home of Rugby, Stan Sport. Continues this weekend with Reds v Highlanders (Friday 7:15pm AEST), Moana Pasifika v Waratahs (Saturday 2:15pm AEST), Chiefs v Brumbies (Saturday 4:30pm AEST) and Force v Crusaders (Saturday 7:15pm AEST). All streaming ad-free, live and on demand only on Stan Sport.