‘A bridge too far’: Moana Pasifika cut from 2027 Super Rugby

Moana Pasifika will not return to Super Rugby next season after New Zealand Rugby (NZR) confirmed it would not approve the transfer of the franchise's licence to any new party.

In a statement on Wednesday, NZR said it had explored every possibility for a long-term solution with several interested parties, including granting multiple extensions to a 15 May deadline, but none could satisfy both the capital and business plan requirements needed to secure the licence. The competition will move to a 10-team format in 2027.

NZR chief financial officer Chris Kinraid said the decision was made in the best interests of the competition and to provide certainty to sponsors, suppliers, other teams, broadcasters and fans.

"A competitive and sustainable team needs commercial revenue of more than NZ$10 million, in addition to broadcast revenue; and at least NZ$15 million in committed capital to support its business plan and maintain appropriate cash reserves," Kinraid said.

NZR said the door remained open beyond 2027. "We firmly believe a team can be based in the Pacific Islands and that a sustainable long-term solution can be found in the future," Kinraid said. He acknowledged the engagement of Foreign Minister Vaovasamanaia Winston Peters and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade "for the recognition of the role rugby can play in the Pacific region."

Vaovasamanaia, who was involved in talks with Pacific governments and other backers over the franchise's future, told PMN News he was "very disappointed for Pacific rugby and for the many fans who have supported Moana Pasifika," and that the team had raised its finances with him too late. "It would have been helpful if Moana Pasifika had come to us earlier about their financial situation," he said.

Moana Pasifika will not feature in Super Rugby Pacific in 2027 after New Zealand Rugby confirmed it would not transfer the franchise's licence to any new party. Photo/Moana Pasifika

He called the three-week timeframe to secure Moana's 2027 place "a bridge too far," but said the decision was "far from the end of the Moana Pasifika story," citing private-sector interest in New Zealand, the Pacific and abroad. He was "very optimistic about a Pacific-focussed team participating in the 2028 competition and onwards into the future."

Among the parties was a Sāmoa and Tonga-led plan, reported by PMN News earlier this month, that would have returned the club to its founding purpose of feeding the two nations' rugby pathways.

Speaking to William Terite on Pacific Mornings on Wednesday ahead of the decision, Lakapi Sāmoa chairman Namulauulu Sami Leota was careful to separate the national union from the rescue effort, saying it lacked the means to run a franchise.

Watch Namulauulu Sami Leota's interview below.

"Moana Pasifika for us is a pathway. But obviously we don't have the resources, the financial backing to take it over as a franchise from Samoa and Tonga's perspective," he said.

Namulauulu said the club had become a key feeder for the national team, with seven or eight players in the Manu Sāmoa squad touring Europe drawn from Moana Pasifika. "I'm praying that hopefully they'll get more funding to continue that team."

Asked for his ideal outcome, Namulauulu pointed to the Fijian Drua. "Ideally, we would like to have our own franchise, to have Lakapi Samoa having its own franchise to feed, that will feed our national team," he said.

Listen to Teanau Tuiono's comments on Moana Pasifika below.

Moana Pasifika was placed into liquidation on 25 May, weeks after owner the Pasifika Medical Association announced in April that the club would not return for the 2027 season. A first liquidators' report released this month put the franchise's debts at an estimated $8.2m, with more than 140 known and potential creditors and between 75 and 80 jobs affected.

Labour deputy leader Carmel Sepuloni, also speaking to Pacific Mornings ahead of the decision, said the club's troubles had been hard to watch. "For those of us that are Pacific, it's been a very sad sight seeing the financial woes and struggles of Moana Pasifika," she said.

Green MP Teanau Tuiono framed the club's survival as a regional issue.

"We all want it saved, right? Because we're all Islanders, this is about rugby, it's a big deal, and that's for all of us," he said, adding that Pacific rugby carried diplomatic weight, "but the financials have to match up as well."

Super Rugby Pacific is expected to confirm the 2027 competition format in the coming weeks.