Moana Pasifika celebrated a historic milestone by securing back-to-back Super Rugby victories for the first time, defeating the New South Wales (NSW) Waratahs 45-28 in Auckland on Saturday.

Led by Ardie Savea and featuring a standout performance from prop Feleti Sae-Ta’ufo’ou, who scored three tries, Moana showcased remarkable resilience, overcoming a halftime deficit of 21-7 to secure their place in the standings.

Meanwhile, the Fijian Drua struggled against the Crusaders, suffering a 31-14 defeat despite a late-game rally. It was the Crusaders' first win in Fiji.

Following their impressive 45-29 win against the Crusaders in Christchurch last week, Moana scored seven tries to the Waratahs' four in their round eight clash at North Harbour Stadium.

With the win, Moana climbed up to eighth place, ahead of the Highlanders, who lost 29-20 to the Western Force in Perth; the defending champions, Blues, who narrowly defeated the Hurricanes 19-18 at Eden Park; and the Drua, falling short at home against a dominant Crusaders outfit.

Savea says he's proud of his team's resilience and highlighted the impact of their bench players in a post-match interview.

Savea says the team's focus on fundamental skills like their set pieces, carrying, and clearing, was instrumental in their second-half comeback.

"We left it all out there. I'm very proud of the men of our team to stick it out there and for us to get the dub, and get back-to-back wins is a huge blessing, and we are very happy," the 31-year-old All Blacks superstar says.

"When we nail our little things, small habits in our game, our set-piece, our carrying game, carrying in the right places on the field, we start to get into our game, and we showed that in the second half. Just extremely proud of the boys.

"The guys who came off the bench just had a huge impact. We as leaders can give space and time for our places to step up and lead themselves, and you're seeing it with our young brothers coming into this team and taking ownership. Makes my job a whole lot easier, so a huge blessing, and I'm really happy."

Savea also thanked the fans who attended the match. Six of Moana's seven tries were scored in the second half, with three of them coming from man-of-the-match prop Feleti Sae-Ta’ufo’ou from Manawatu.

He set up the scoring of his first try and grew in confidence as the game continued.

Sae-Ta’ufo’ou was difficult to stop due to his power and performance, which set the tone for their historic win.

Flyhalf Patrick Pellegrini, fullback William Havili, replacement Fine Inisi, and No.8 Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa all scored tries, wth Pellegrini kicking five conversions.

Man of the moment: Prop Feleti Sae-ta'ufo'ou scored three tries to help Moana Pasifika beat the NSW Waratahs 45-28 in Auckland on Saturday. Photo/Super Rugby

Sae-Ta’ufo’ou told SkySportNZ's Jeff Wilson, a former All Blacks captain, that, "we give back the moment to God.

"I thank my Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ. I know we wouldn't be here without him today. We start with God, and we finish with God. That's the biggest thing I love about this team. We hold God true to our hearts, and I believe this is more than a family and a team.

"The biggest thing we talked about was starting off well, and if things didn't go our way, we need to dig deep so true resilience just to stay in it. The message at halftime was to stay in it and show everyone how much we wanted it."

The Australians were outclassed in the second half, falling to a 45-28 defeat after leading by 14 points at halftime, 21-7.

Force speedster Triston Reilly scored two tries, and his other wingman, Joseph Suaalii, also performed well for the visitors. But Moana built momentum and continued to push forward, dominating the final 22 minutes of the match.

Ardie Savea takes on the Waratahs' defence. Photo/Photopress

The Waratahs suffered back-to-back defeats, marking their seventh consecutive loss on the road. The halftime and fulltime stats paint a grim picture for Tahs' fans.

Tahs' captain, Hugh Sinclair, told Wilson that, “Either they had the special juice at halftime, or we stayed in the change rooms at half-time.

“We literally said at half-time they can put 40 on in a half, and look what they did. When they’re on a roll like that, they’re very hard to stop.

“Ardie leads from the front. He’s a phenomenal player. In the first half, I thought we were in control. The rest is history, I guess. Discipline let us down a bit in handling. It’s going to sting that one.”

Fijian Drua fail to bring their 'A game'

Meanwhile, the Fijian Drua struggled against the Crusaders, losing 31-14 despite a late surge in Suva on Saturday.

The Crusaders set a commanding lead early, preventing the Drua from executing their game plan effectively.

The Drua failed to bring their best performance against the Crusaders. Coming off a rest, the Fijians would have been confident, given their home record.

But the Crusaders, fresh from an upset loss to Moana Pasifika, came prepared. The visitors established a 31-0 lead before a late surge from the Drua narrowed the deficit.

It was the visitors who managed to execute under pressure, running away to a 31-0 lead before a late blitz from the Drua threatened to burn through that deficit.

Despite two thrilling tries that gave the home fans plenty to cheer about, the Crusaders emerged victorious 31-14.

The Canterbury Crusaders have beaten the Fijian Drua for the first time ever on Fijian soil. Photo/ODT

A disappointed Drua co-captain and hooker Tevita Ikanivere told a post-match interview that "the Crusaders came with a great game plan.

"They disrupted most of our lineouts, didn't get us going, and we just didn't keep the ball in the breakdown. They attacked that area, and we lost a lot of balls and gave away too many balls to them.

"They started the game well. We wanted to come back in the second half, but it was too late for that.

"We'll go back to the drawing board and work on our lineouts and our breakdown area to make sure it's clean so we can provide the backs good ball and go forward. I think that's the way to go forward, learn and go again next week," Ikanivere says.

In other round eight results, the Waikato Chiefs beat the Queensland Reds in Hamilton, 27-15, on Friday.

On Sunday, the Fijiana Drua take on the Queensland Reds in the semifinals of Super Rugby Women in Brisbane.

Looking ahead to round nine, the Hurricanes host the Crusaders while the Waratahs take on the top-of-the-table Chiefs in Sydney on Friday.

On Saturday, Moana will battle the Blues in the local derby at Eden Park, while the Highlanders and Drua clash takes place in Dunedin, and the Reds will face off against the ACT Brumbies in Brisbane.