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Moana Pasifika were a revelation in Super Rugby this season. Their unexpected play-off charge, spearheaded by a reborn Ardie Savea, won them plenty of new fans and well-wishers, even amongst their supposed rivals.
This season they picked up famous wins against the Hurricanes, Blues and Crusaders. Their attacking style, coached by Wales and Scarlets legend Stephen Jones, was thrilling to watch and distracted from their slightly hopeless defence.
Whilst they fell short of the play-offs, they delighted fans and started drawing sizeable crowds to their new home in North Harbour. No fewer than two Moana games features in SKY’s most watched games of the season. Combined with a stunning range of merchandise from kit supplier Dynasty, they are one of the most likeable rugby teams in the world.
However, it now looks like the positivity of 2025 will be short lived. Not long after the season concluded, Moana announced that an entire team’s worth of players would be leaving. This included not only the talismanic Ardie Savea, who will return to Japan for a 2nd sabbatical in 3 seasons, but arguably their brightest young talent: Kyren Taumoefoloau.
At 6ft2 and 95kgs and 12 tries in 21 Super Rugby gamest just 22 years old, Karen Taumoefolau is one of the most exiting wingers in Super Rugby. He was capped for Tonga in 2023 and has 4 tries for them already. He should be everything Moana Pasifika stand for: a pacific islander talent nurtured at a young level to achieve great things. Now though, he will join the Chiefs and is expected to be capped by the All Blacks once his 3-year stand down from Tonga is complete next year.
The context for Taumoefolau is that he is a kiwi by birth – he was born in Malborough – so this is not a black and white case of the All Blacks stealing islanders. However, he is not the only top Moana player to be taken by another New Zealand franchise.
(pic taumoefolau please)
In their debut season, their top 2 players were Timoci Tavatavanawai and Levi Aumua, who topped many of the leagues individual stats despite playing for a team rooted to the bottom of the standings. Within a year they were poached by the Highlanders and the Crusaders respectively. Last week, Tavatavanawai received his first All Blacks call up.
Then there is Ardie Savea himself. His All Blacks eligibility was not affected by his signing for Moana. In fact, their license specifically stipulates the Franchise may have up to 3 current All Blacks on their roster. Even so, the New Zealand Herald recently reported the NZRU was against Savea joining the team and attempted to discourage him – including financial incentives to stay at the Hurricanes. Their concern? They believed playing for Moana would be detrimental to his game.
The Ardie Savea contract saga proves two things:
NZRU do not view Moana Pasifika as a foreign team
They view Moana Pasifika as below the other 5 franchises
Hopefully the latter will now change, given they won twice as many games as the Highlanders this season and the same number as the Blues. But whilst Moana play their games in New Zealand and are at least partially funded by the NZRU, it is difficult for cynical eyes not to view them as a 6th New Zealand franchise.
Aside from the looming spectre of the All Blacks, there remains an uncomfortable question: are Moana contributing to a significant improvement in performance for Tonga and Samoa at men’s international level?
Since Moana’s inception, Tonga & Samoa’s results have not improved. Whilst the team does provide a pathway for Pasifika players to develop and experience elite rugby competition, it is a stretch to suggest that half a pro team each is enough to elevate two of rugby’s most beloved nations.
For example, Moana’s 1st choice scrum half is Samoan Jonathan Taumateine, whereas their 1st choice fly half is Tongan Patrick Pellegrini. Therefore, neither country is benefiting from the cohesion built up between the 2 players. Incidentally, neither 28 year old Taumateine nor 26 year old Pellegrini were handed their pro debuts by Moana.
Contrast to Fiji who benefit from Drua cohesion or Georgia who benefit from Black Lion cohesion. Tonga & Samoa currently rank 19th and 14th respectively in the men’s rankings and have fallen even further behind Fiji in recent years. Last season’s Pacific Nation Cup saw the Drua players turn out for Fiji en masse, whereas Moana players were more likely to play in the NPC for kiwi clubs than pull on a red or blue test jersey.
The two nations were boosted by the change to eligibility laws ahead of the 2023 which allowed several former All Blacks and Wallabies to switch allegiance (some of whom also signed for Moana), but the wins did not follow. More All Blacks are said to have expressed an interest in joining Moana, but one has to ask when this becomes a point of players having thier cake and eating it – being able to represent their Pasifika roots at Moana without actually having to give up their All Black caps.
Are Moana Pasifika better than nothing when it comes to pathways for Pasifika players? Absolutely. Are they an incredibly likeable team who have enriched Super Rugby Pacific? Unquestionably. Does that make them a success story? The jury is out.
To cement their reputation they must figure out their relationship with the All Blacks, retain their best players and align themselves more closely with the Tongan and Samoan national teams. Under current circumstances, none of that will be easy.
