Five tries. A first win in New Zealand in four years. And, finally, some breathing room at the bottom of the Super Rugby Pacific ladder. The Western Force did not just show up in Pukekohe on Friday night; they showed up ready to play, posting a commanding 35-19 victory over Moana Pasifika to end one of the more painful winless streaks in recent WA rugby history.
After successive defeats to the Brumbies and Blues in Perth to open the season, few would have blamed the Force for carrying a little scar tissue into this fixture. Instead, they came out swinging. Winger Darby Lancaster touched down inside five minutes, swooping on a left-foot cross-field kick from flyhalf Ben Donaldson to give the visitors an early foothold. From that point, the Force rarely looked back.
Donaldson's influence on this match is hard to overstate. The flyhalf, who only passed a last-minute head injury assessment to take the field, has form against this particular opponent. Last year he scored in the 85th minute and slotted the winning conversion to seal a heart-stopping 45-44 result. On Friday, he was the architect from the outset rather than the finisher, dictating play and creating space that Perth's outside backs were happy to exploit.
Former All Black George Bridge had a night of two very different halves in the personal sense. Around the half-hour mark he was caught out while casually preparing to ground the ball, only for Moana winger Denzel Samoa to force the ball free. It was the kind of moment that replays haunt players for weeks. Bridge's response, though, was immediate. Two minutes later he went agonisingly close before lock Darcy Swain crossed from the next phase, and then Bridge himself burst through the Moana defence to score his first try in Force colours. A neat redemption arc, compressed into four minutes of football.
Hooker Mills Sanerivi added a third try before the break, sending the Force into halftime with a 21-7 lead that they, unlike in earlier rounds, had no intention of surrendering. Flanker Carlo Tizzano, the competition's leading tryscorer in 2025, finished off a driving maul in the 61st minute to put the result beyond doubt. Replacement hooker Leonel Oviedo then crossed for a fifth, capping a thoroughly professional second-half display from Simon Cron's side.
Late tries from Moana replacements Melani Matavao and Jackson Garden-Bachop trimmed the deficit and denied the Force a bonus point, but the final scoreline of 35-19 tells a story of controlled dominance rather than a nervy finish. As reported by ABC News, it is only the second time in 25 Super Rugby matches that the Force have won on New Zealand soil, and the first since they beat this same Moana Pasifika side back in 2022.
For Moana, the result continues a brutal week. Just seven days earlier they had shipped 52 points to the Hurricanes, a chastening experience after the optimism generated by their season-opening 40-26 win over Fijian Drua in Suva. Two losses from three now has Moana's campaign looking considerably more complicated than it did a fortnight ago.
The Force, by contrast, head into the next chapter of their New Zealand road trip with genuine momentum. Matches against the Highlanders and Hurricanes await before Cron's side returns to Perth. Winning either of those fixtures would represent a significant upgrade on recent form. Winning both would announce this Force group as genuine contenders in a competition that, for so long, has felt just beyond their reach.
Meanwhile, attention in Queensland turns to Saturday night, when the Reds host the Highlanders in Brisbane for their first home match of the 2026 season. After the Force's encouraging display across the Tasman, Queensland fans will be hoping their side can generate similar energy under their own roof.
Rugby, at its best, rewards teams that commit fully to the contest. On Friday in Pukekohe, the Western Force did exactly that. Whether they can sustain it through a demanding road trip is the question worth watching. The answer will go a long way toward defining what this season becomes for WA rugby.