Latest news with #IoaneMoananu
RNZ News
30-05-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Crusaders hooker Ioane Moananu thriving in Super Rugby Pacific move
Crusaders hooker Ioane Moananu admits being unwanted by other Super Rugby Pacific franchises has fuelled his form, as he plays and trains "with a chip on the shoulder" - but he still has time for a chuckle. The 24-year-old rake has been a standout performer of this year's competition, taking his opportunity for consistent game time with both hands. The realities of international travel have taken some getting used to, much to his amusement. Earlier this week, he joked with fellow squad members at training, reminding them to "have their boots clean", before flying out for their pivotal clash against the Brumbies in Canberra. Speaking to RNZ, Moananu recounted a run-in with airport staff on the eve of their Sydney clash with the Waratahs, because he and a few others had dirty boots. "Couple of us got stopped by Customs and had to go through a whole clean-out of boots," he said. "Got a boot cleanse, which was pretty good. Ioane Moananu celebrates a try against Western Force. Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2025 "I had a whole patch of mud in my boot bag and got grilled for it. Got a [team] fine as well." After only five appearances for the Crusaders across the previous two campaigns, Moananu has played 12 games this year, starting six of them. During pre-season, he was considered only the fourth-choice hooker behind Codie Taylor, George Bell and Brodie McAlister. His prospects improved, when McAlister headed north to the Chiefs. Injuries to All Blacks Taylor and Bell, as well as the former's enforced rest weeks, have opened up an elevated role for Moananu this season. His dynamic performances have seen him collect five tries in 2025, including a double in a standout display against the Hurricanes at Wellington's Sky Stadium in Round 9. Born and raised in Ōtara, Moananu came through the ranks in South Auckland, where he attended De La Salle College and played his club rugby for Manurewa. He was later picked up by the Counties Manukau Rugby Academy, before making his NPC debut for the Steelers in 2022. Then, the Crusaders came knocking. "I got the call to come to Christchurch and do a pre-season, and they enjoyed the way I play," he said, "Now they've kept me on for three years - it's gone by so fast." Although the traditional Auckland-Canterbury rugby rivalry did cross his mind, before making the move south, he relished the new environment. He chuckled about being an Aucklander "growing up to hate Canterbury". Ioane Moananu: "Canterbury's home for me now." Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon "I've got friends here for life now, with boys I never thought I'd be friends with. Now, they're like my brothers. "What they always say, when you come down here, you never want to leave and that's happened to me. Canterbury's home for me now." Always brimming with talent, he creditted Crusaders forwards coach Dan Perrin for developing his game further, particularly around his core roles. The hooker has benefited from the Crusaders set-piece mentality, with most of his tries resulting from him peeling off the back of unrelenting lineout mauls. As the Crusaders make another push for a Super Rugby title, Moananu admitted being part of a championship-winning team would be vindicating. "It would mean the world, especially not being wanted up north," he said. "There's always that chip on my shoulder, like none of my home teams wanted me and I always took that personally. "Always have that in the back of my mind, like an edge that I have." His impressive performances have been noted by pundits and Moananu is a potential All Black bolter, when coach Scott Robertson names his first squad of the year next month. Asked if test rugby was an ambition, Moananu replied: "One thousand percent, "It's definitely [a dream of mine]. I've heard the chat, but I try not to listen too much to it. "I just keep doing what I can over here and do what I can for my team." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
NZ Herald
16-05-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Crusaders v Waratahs live updates, Super Rugby Pacific
Live updates of the Super Rugby Pacific clash between the Waratahs and the Crusaders. Crusaders team to face Waratahs Johnny McNicholl has been named to start at fullback for his first appearance of the season, replacing the injured Will Jordan who is sidelined with a knee injury. There are three changes in the forwards, with All Blacks trio Codie Taylor, Scott Barrett and Fletcher Newell all rested for the clash in Sydney, replaced by Ioane Moananu, Kershawl Sykes-Martin and Quinten Strange respectively. On the bench, All Blacks hooker George Bell returns after overcoming a foot injury which was expected to sideline him for the entire Super Rugby Pacific season. Crusaders: 1. Tamaiti Williams 2. Ioane Moananu 3. Kershawl Sykes-Martin 4. Quinten Strange 5. Antonio Shalfoon 6. Cullen Grace 7. Tom Christie 8. Christian Lio-Willie 9. Noah Hotham 10. Rivez Reihana 11. Sevu Reece 12. David Havili (c) 13. Braydon Ennor 14. Chay Fihaki 15. Johnny McNicholl. Bench: 16. George Bell 17. George Bower 18. Seb Calder 19. Jamie Hannah Kellow 21. Kyle Preston 22. James O'Connor 23. Dallas McLeod.
RNZ News
26-04-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Super Rugby Pacific: Red (and black) alert
Analysis - It is a tad ironic that this reinvigorated season of Super Rugby Pacific is heading towards a far more familiar sight at the business end. The Crusaders, fresh off a ruthless 43-10 victory over the Highlanders , are looking far more like the outfit that had winning seemingly encoded in their DNA for much of the competition's history. But it also says a lot about just how bad last year was for them to get back to having that fearsome aura after all of 11 rounds. The win in Dunedin was probably the biggest statement of intent so far, built almost entirely on committed defence, and they still had enough on attack to leave the Highlanders wondering what had happened. It took over an hour for the home side to get any points on the board - by then it was far too late and a blip in the game narrative, rather than any sort of proper comeback. It's getting to the point now where some Crusaders players are probably starting to have an All Black call-up in the back of their minds, not least because Scott Robertson has already shown he is favourable to his old team. Ioane Moananu, who has gone from being a wider squad member to extremely capable replacement for Codie Taylor, should be one of those. His body of work this season has certainly been equal if not quite a bit more than what George Bell showed last year, and while Samisoni Taukei'aho has been playing well for the last couple of weeks, that position in the All Black squad is probably still very much up for grabs. Eyebrows were raised over Chay Fihaki's elevation to the All Black squad last season, but really that shouldn't be the case at all if he finds himself named for the July series - his versatility may well see him into the outside back unit. Just to make things even more manageable for the Crusaders, they get next weekend off before a potential preview of the final against the Chiefs. This season was always going to be one where Moana Pasifika had a lot of attention focused on them, and not just because of Ardie Savea. 2025 is the year that the start up franchise had to start getting bums on seats and the fixture against the Fijian Drua seemed like their best possible chance to make that happen - not least because every Fijian in the area would show up. Just under 9000 came through the North Harbour Stadium gates, and while it was obviously helped by the Drua's passionate supporter base , this was something that Moana organically created themselves through an evolving and adaptive marketing strategy and just general good vibes. As for the game, it didn't quite live up to the barn-burner expectations as Moana ran out fairly comfortable 34-15 winners , but Savea certainly put on his usual brilliant performance to give the struggling Blues something to worry about before their next meeting in three weeks. The Hurricanes put on their best performance of the year when they tipped up the Brumbies 35-29 in Canberra, amazingly the first win by an NZ team in Australia all season. The question now is whether the Canes have left their run too late. While this wins rockets them up to fifth on the ladder, they're now somewhat dependant on other results to solidify a decent play-off spot. However, it's worth bearing in mind that Super Rugby has only ever been won twice by teams that have finished outside the top two in the regular season (Highlanders in 2015 and Crusaders in 1999, both finished fourth). So really, unless the Canes can pull off a dramatic climb up the table like they did in 2016, it's likely they're just postponing their holidays by a week.
