Moana Pasifika fought their way to a 22-14 win over the Western Force after a gutsy performance late in the match.
Neither side was at their best but the visitors had enough class in the key moments to close out the game through Christian Leali'ifano.
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So what did we learn?
The Force’s discipline issues reared their head as it remains a major problem for Simon Cron’s side.
They entered the game as the worst offenders in the competition and this trend continued into the first 15 minutes as they gave away five.
Carlo Tizzano’s sloppy tackle saw him yellow-carded for ten whilst they were lucky not to have another player sent for repeated infringements as they conceded nine in the first half.
The 12 conceded an improvement on last week but way too many in poor areas that cost them.
Ben Donaldson showed off his Rugby IQ with one of the best kickoff plays that even fooled the camera.
Donaldson ran straight to the halfway line to immediately kick off after trying to charge down the conversion following Malolo's opening try.
It caught everyone off guard, especially Moana Pasifika, who still had trainers on the field and could only watch the ball bounce over their head.
Four minutes later, Chase Tiatia’s chip kick found Bayley Kuenzle for the try thanks to the great field position.
The Force showed the value of taking your chances as they will lament leaving plenty of points on the park.
It started with two sloppy plays in the first eight minutes where they let a great 50/22 kick from Hamish Stewart that landed inside the 10 metres go to waste after obstruction at the lineout.
Will Harris then made a bruising break but couldn’t find Issak Fines-Leleiwasa who would’ve waltzed over the line.
Combined with two penalty misses from Donaldson, it ultimately cost the Force against Moana Pasifika, who conversely sealed their win with a monster penalty effort from William Havili from well over 50m.
Moana Pasifika wound back the clock with the perfect tap set play for a Sekope Kepu try.
The tap play is coming back into fashion but you’ll struggle to find a more cleaner move than the prop gliding over the line.
It was Kepu’s first Super Rugby try since 2018 and his sixth in his decade-long Super Rugby career.
All Blacks legend Tana Umaga can celebrate his 50th game in style at the helm of one of the most improved sides in Super Rugby.
They were well drilled at set piece time and had plenty of tricks up their sleeves to climb inside the top eight.
Umaga has made an impact since taking over and has already improved on their win record from last year, with debutants like Kyren Taumoefolau the future of this side.
It’s remarkable when you consider the team's travel in the opening month, constantly going in-between Australia and New Zealand.
