Julian Savea’s reunion with brother Ardie at Moana Pasifika has taken a bit longer than expected.
But they will finally line up in the same team for the first time in almost two years when Moana host the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua at North Harbour Stadium tomorrow afternoon, in a match they must win if they are to have any chance of making Super Rugby Pacific’s top six.
The ‘Battle of the Pacific,’ as it has been billed, pits the team in 10th – Moana – against the team sitting 11th, or last – the Drua.
But if history is any guide, they should produce a spectacle that makes a mockery of their ladder positions.
Three of the five meetings between the two teams have been decided by three points or fewer, with the Drua winning by seven in Lautoka last April and getting up by 15 the first time the two teams met, in Sydney in 2022.
Moana have only beaten the Drua once, when they won 39-36 at AAMI Park in Melbourne during Super Round last March, but are hosting them for just the second time in the four seasons they have both been part of Super Rugby.
And for the first time this season, coach Tana Umaga has both the Savea brothers at his disposal.
34 year old Julian had been out since the first week of the season with a knee injury, but returned and played 80 minutes in last Saturday’s 24-0 humbling at the hands of the Brumbies in Pukekohe.
31 year old Ardie missed that match but has been named to start tomorrow, with Julian listed on the bench.
The last time the Wellington-born brothers played together was for the Hurricanes against the Blues in May 2023.
Moana Pasifika will take on the Drua at 4.35pm tomorrow.
Source : stuff.co
