Moana Pasifika will likely be consigned to the wooden spoon in their maiden Super Rugby season after being outclassed by the Fijian Drua today.
In the first meeting of the new Pacific Island entrants, Moana Pasifika were given a lesson in taking chances as the Fijian Drua struck from all over the field at CommBank Stadium in Sydney.
The victory was the Drua's second this season and lifted them five points clear of their fellow new side, leaving Moana with three more games to lift themselves from the foot of the table.
The make-up fixture against the Western Force looms as their best chance to double their win tally in this disrupted campaign, but they will need to be better than they were today.
Moana enjoyed plenty of possession and regularly had their opponents on the back foot but, aside from their formidable maul, were ineffective when in position to pressure their opponents' line.
Handling errors were costly, preventing the visitors from stretching the defence, but there was a blunt edge when they did keep hold of the ball that limited their attacking threat.
In contrast, the Drua looked capable of striking from anywhere - and often did. A couple of tries owed more to chancing their arm than any formula, but the hosts were clinical enough to take control of the match from just about the opening whistle.
The Drua stamped their mark early with two converted tries in the first 10 minutes. The first was a good example of the danger that Moana lacked from phase play, as Te Ahiwaru Cirikidaveta applied the finishing touch after a fine break from Kalaveti Ravouvou.
And the second showed the Drua could pounce from deep if given half a chance, as wing Vinaya Habosi scooped up an errant pass and outpaced the defence while racing 60 metres to score.
