Ardie Savea, right, during training at North Harbour Stadium. 26 March Photo: Moana Pasifika
Moana Pasifika captain, All Black Ardie Savea, knows he and his players will have to be on-spot with their own game if they are to stand a chance against the Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday night.
Crusaders currently sit second in the table, and are on a three-game winning steak. While Moana Pasifika is last after six rounds of competition.
Savea, who returns after missing the game against the Chiefs last week because of a hamstring, told reporters at the team's North Harbour Stadium home on Tuesday that they face a 'daunting' task.
But he also believes they have the chance to re-write their own history in the Super Rugby Pacific round seven match.
For that to happen, his team will need to be simple, confident, believe in themselves, and enjoy their game.
Savea said if they win that will be a good story.
"It can be daunting for some of the players, but I look at it as a great challenge, and a great story if we do win," he said.
"But to do that we need to do the mahi.
"The mindset, for me, is to go out there and just play with no expectation. The way these boys are playing, just play with no expectations, and they just jam and it's when they are at their best."
Savea was disappointed he had to miss the second-half of the clash against the Hurricanes, which they won, but is looking forward to meeting the Crusaders.
He believes mental toughness is important for the team.
He has asked his players to be ready to battle from the opening whistle, rather than fighting back when they are down on the scoreboard.
"You admire the fight back and the attitude when we are down but to go the next step is about having that mindset from the get go," he said.
"It's a big focus for us to try and encourage the boys and demand the boys to go to those places and not just react in the game, but being pro-active, and nail each moment, each time, ruthlessly...not waiting for us to let in heaps of tries and then start playing."
Crusaders 'fortress'
Savea agreed with his head coach Fa'alogo Tana Umaga, and said playing the Crusaders in Christchurch is probably the hardest place to play Super Rugby.
"They been champions for so many years. They [have] got quality players and coaches and it's kind of their fortress. For us, it's a huge task," he said.
"But it's something that we can go there and try to test ourselves and test them as well."
Savea said the Crusaders are stronger and have not lost any of their power and strength, despite a disappointing 2024 season.
"The Crusaders are the Crusaders, and like any team you have respect for them. The last couple of games they have been on form.
"We gotta go down there and be prepared and turn up physically."
The All Blacks vice-captain said his team will need to win the collisions and get possession.
"Rugby is a simple game," he said, adding, "If you don't win the collisions, you lose half the battle. We need to turn up and front up."
Self belief and confidence
Umaga said his players need to have a good start and believe in their game.
Believing in their game is a must for the side, as they have proven that in their past five matches so far.
A lot of reviews of their recent performance against the Chiefs have been done, with focus on getting the set-pieces right.
"Obviously, our start, and I think it's just kind of mindset around how we start our preparation before the game," he told reporters.
"And around our belief in our game, as you saw, when we believe in our game and we can implement that, we can be really competitive.
"If we have any doubts and if a part of the machine doesn't work then it makes it a hard day.
"We looked at our set pieces, obviously our scrum, it didn't go as well as we would like.
"We have done a lot of work around that because we know we are up against a formidable set-piece front-row from the Crusaders as they have always have been."
On giving away tries, Umaga said they just need to have the same messaging and the team working as a team.
"When teams score against us I think a lot of our guys go individuals and start thinking what they can do better, and they wanna make a difference, they wanna come out here and do the best they can," Umaga said.
"There's really the need for us to really come together and collectively have one plan to go out with. That is something we have talked about and our leaders have really taken that on board.
"They really just need to step up and bring everyone together, to make sure we don't go out in ones and twos, we go out together with one plan."
Turn on
Moana Pasifika's spirit of fighting back has been on display in all their matches, the last three being impressive showing of that, against the Hurricanes, where they won, the Highlanders and Chiefs, where they narrowly lost.
Umaga said they need to turn on from the start and are consistent throughout the games they play, especially against a team like the Crusaders.
"We don't want to give such big leads and that is an enormous chunk and it is hard to fight back from," he said, referring to the lead they gave to the Chiefs last weekend.
"We know we can be better than that, we just need to show it. It's around executing those things.
"We are going to the hardest place to play in New Zealand, I believe, against the Crusaders and they have the people behind them and the team have a lot of confidence with he way they're playing and they will challenge us."
Mental toughness is something his players will need to have, with pressure from everywhere, especially the expectations players would have.
"It's huge," he said of the daunting task ahead of them this weekend.
"It will be for the first time for some of our guys to go down and feel what it is like down there. That is probably the biggest part of professional football is how to cater for the mental side of the game.
"We can train in the gym as much as we want, we can train on the field as much as we want, but once you get out there and the pressure starts to come on, it's just not from the other team but pressure internally, pressure from outside about expectations.
"For us it's about just educating our players on how to handle that."
The Crusaders host Moana Pasifika at the Apollo Projects Stadium at 7.05pm on Saturday.
Other matches this weekend, the Hurricanes meet the Waratahs, Brumbies take on the Highlanders while the Reds will take on the Force.
Teams that are on bye this weekend are the Fiji Drua, Blues, and the Chiefs.
