Highlanders
Moana Pasifika
Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
Championship Standings
The Highlanders sit 8th on 16 points — three wins from nine and clinging to mathematical playoff hopes. Moana Pasifika are rooted to the bottom on 4 points with a single Round 1 win and eight straight defeats, conceding 222 more than they've scored.
| Pos | Team | P | W | L | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hurricanes | 8 | 6 | 2 | +184 | 31 |
| 2 | Chiefs | 9 | 7 | 2 | +109 | 31 |
| 3 | Blues | 9 | 6 | 3 | +79 | 29 |
| 4 | Crusaders | 10 | 5 | 5 | +54 | 25 |
| 5 | Brumbies | 9 | 5 | 4 | +49 | 25 |
| 6 | Queensland Reds | 8 | 5 | 3 | −36 | 22 |
| 7 | NSW Waratahs | 9 | 4 | 5 | −43 | 19 |
| 8 | Highlanders | 9 | 3 | 6 | −55 | 16 |
| 9 | Fijian Drua | 9 | 4 | 5 | −93 | 16 |
| 10 | Western Force | 9 | 3 | 6 | −26 | 14 |
| 11 | Moana Pasifika | 9 | 1 | 8 | −222 | 4 |
Highlanders
W2, L4Two wins from the last six and the trajectory is wobbly at best. The 7–50 Hurricanes hammering at home in Round 6 was the season's nadir, and the 10–14 home loss to the Brumbies was a winnable game left on the table. The 47–40 shootout in Auckland last week showed attacking intent — 40 points on the road is respectable — but the defence has leaked 192 points in six matches. They've lost all three home games against quality opposition.
Moana Pasifika
W0, L6Eight straight defeats and the wheels are off. The 17–62 home humiliation by the Chiefs in Round 8 was an all-time low, and last week's 29–14 loss to the Waratahs — a beatable side — confirmed this isn't just a quality-opposition problem. They're conceding 47 points a game across the last six and scoring just 17. The Round 1 Drua win feels like a different season.
Head-to-Head Record
6 – 0 – 1
Highlanders wins · Draws · Moana Pasifika wins (all 7 meetings)
The Highlanders have dominated this fixture — 6 wins from 7, including a 39–19 romp in Auckland just three rounds ago. Moana Pasifika's only win came in May 2025 (34–29 in Dunedin), and that remains their sole taste of victory in the rivalry. Four of the seven meetings have been decided by 8 points or fewer, though, so Moana have kept things closer than the record suggests.
Recent Results
| Date | Competition | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | Super Rugby | Moana Pasifika 19–39 Highlanders |
| May 2025 | Super Rugby | Highlanders 29–34 Moana Pasifika |
| Feb 2025 | Super Rugby | Moana Pasifika 29–31 Highlanders |
| May 2024 | Super Rugby | Moana Pasifika 17–28 Highlanders |
| Feb 2024 | Super Rugby | Highlanders 35–21 Moana Pasifika |
| Mar 2023 | Super Rugby | Moana Pasifika 17–45 Highlanders |
Average score in the last 6 meetings: Highlanders 32 – Moana Pasifika 22. The Highlanders have won six of seven by an average margin of 14 points — the R7 39–19 result is their most recent win.
Extended Form
Highlanders4W, 11L
Last 15 matches dating back to 2025: wins against Moana Pasifika (x2), Blues at home, Western Force. Heavy losses include 7–50 Hurricanes, 10–43 Crusaders, 46–10 Chiefs, 47–13 Blues.
The Highlanders' 15-game record is grim — just 4 wins, with two of those coming against Moana Pasifika. Their one genuinely impressive result was the 29–21 home win over the Blues in February 2025. The pattern is clear: they beat the bottom of the table, compete at home with the middle, and get hammered by the top.
Moana Pasifika4W, 12L
Last 16 matches: Wins v Drua (Feb 2026), Fijian Drua home (Apr 2025), Blues home (May 2025), Hurricanes home (Mar 2025). Losses include 85–7 Chiefs, 64–12 Hurricanes, 68–12 Chiefs, 62–36 Reds.
Moana's extended record is disastrous on the road — they haven't won away from Auckland since beating the Drua in Fiji on Round 1. Every away loss in the last 15 months has come by double digits. The Forsyth Barr trip looks like another step on a familiar treadmill.
Highlanders XV
Lineups not yet announced. The Highlanders will be desperate to return to winning ways at home after successive defeats to the Brumbies and Blues — expect Jamie Joseph to name his strongest available XV with finals hopes hanging by a thread.
Moana Pasifika XV
Lineups not yet announced. Tana Umaga’s side is in disarray after eight straight losses and will need to find a response they haven’t shown for two months. Julian Savea's experience at the back remains their biggest attacking weapon.
Key Matchups
The Highlanders should own the set piece — Moana's scrum has been shredded for two months, and their lineout conceded multiple maul tries against the Chiefs. Forsyth Barr's enclosed roof removes weather as a leveller, which hurts Moana's preferred broken-field game. The one area Moana can genuinely threaten is width: Julian Savea and their edge runners will find space if the Highlanders chase the game. But with a four-point home loss to the Brumbies fresh in the memory, expect Jamie Joseph's pack to focus on territory and squeeze the life out of this.
Match Forecast
Every lever on the scorecard favours the Highlanders — home advantage under the Forsyth Barr roof, a 6–1 head-to-head record (including a 20-point win in Auckland three weeks ago), superior set piece, and the small matter of Moana Pasifika being on an eight-match losing streak while conceding 47 points a game. The net of +20 puts this firmly in clear-favourite territory. A Highlanders win is the overwhelmingly likely outcome; the only question is the margin.
The caveat is that the Highlanders themselves have been wobbly — a 10–14 home loss to the Brumbies and a 47–40 away defeat to the Blues show a defence that can be breached and an attack that doesn't always fire. Moana will score — they always do — and Julian Savea on the short side is still a nightmare matchup. But this is a must-win game for the Highlanders' playoff maths, played indoors against the worst defence in the competition. If they can't win this comfortably, they can't win anything.
Highlanders by 18+ with a bonus point — Forsyth Barr's roof, the 6–1 H2H, and Moana's freefall make this a must-take fixture for Jamie Joseph.