Moana Pasifika announce new captain for 2024 voyage

Moana Pasifika have announced James Lay as their captain for their 2024 Super Rugby season. Lay joined Moana after spending three seasons with the Blues, and now takes the reins as captain.

He says the news was surprising, and is grateful to get the call up.

“It’s really special for myself and my family, I was honestly just rattled and taken back by it when Tana rang me. It wasn’t something I really ever hoped for or try to chase.

“It’s a natural progression in my career and a new challenge for me. I’m just really grateful for it.”

The front rower made his professional debut with the Bay of Plenty in the NPC competition in 2017, before moving to the Bristol Bears in 2018 where he spent three seasons. Lay then signed with the Auckland Blues where he has spent the last four seasons.

He was also part of the 2019 and 2023 Manu Samoa Rugby World Cup campaigns, slotting in as tight-head prop. Lay says his experience on the international stage will benefit his season this year.

“There’s a lot of players here who have played international rugby. We talked about it this morning in our team meeting about sharing our knowledge.

“If we can grow our game in different areas from all the different places we’ve played, we’ll only get better as a team.”

Lay is the fourth Moana Pasifika captain, following Christian Leali'ifano, Sekope Kepu and Solomone Funaki. He was pleased to get the blessing of these former captains, as they were among the first to congratulate him, and offer their support when needed.

Head coach Tana Umaga says Lay’s leadership will provide value to the team on a consistent basis, after previous captains have struggled due to injury.

“Our leadership of previous seasons, Sekope has been focusing on getting back on the field because he hasn’t played in 18 months.

“Solomone is still injured so he’ll miss the start of the season, so that kind of played a factor to make sure we would have a leader would be there right at the start.”

Umaga says Lay’s appointment is also how he leads by example in everything he does.

“It was a unanimous decision from our coaching group, he lives the values (of our team). We’ve known him for a long time, [but] when I did offer him the role, it came as a real shock to him.

“That’s what we want as a leader, the first thing as a leader is to lead through your actions. When he does talk people listen so he has respect. And that’s what you want I believe is to have some not looking for it.

“We believe he has the actions and character and respect of the team around him, so we knew he’d be the man for the job.”