Moana Pasifika have announced the franchise will disband at the end of the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season, however New Zealand Rugby say other parties are exploring the option to keep the club alive.
As the Herald reported yesterday, Moana Pasifika will not be part of Super Rugby Pacific in 2027 unless they can find a new owner willing to meet the annual running costs of between $10 million and $12 million.
The Herald understands Moana Pasifika chief executive Debbie Sorensen, who is also chief executive of Pasifika Medical Association (PMA) which owns the Super Rugby side, informed staff yesterday the owner will meet its financial obligations for the remainder of the 2026 season but will not run the club next year.
Moana announced this morning that after five seasons, they made the “difficult and heartbreaking decision” to disband the franchise following the conclusion of the current season.
“This is one of the hardest decisions we have ever made. We are immensely proud of our players, staff and the community who have supported our team over the years,” Moana Pasifika chair Dr Kiki Maoate said.
“Across our rugby, pathways and community programmes, we have been able to support a growing hub of Pacific talent across multiple sporting codes, both locally and in the Pacific region. This is something we are extremely proud of and will continue to support and advocate for as best we can.”
“Our commitment now is to ensure a smooth transition for everyone affected and to celebrate our legacy by finishing the season strong.”
Moana Pasifika will provide support to all players and staff during this transition.
Estimates suggest the cost of running Moana Pasifika is $10m-$12m a year and there is no viable means by which the PMA believes it could meet its financial obligations next year. The Herald revealed last year that the PMA suffered a financial blow when it lost a government contract worth $44m.
New Zealand Rugby said other parties were exploring plans to step in.
“Our immediate thoughts are with the players and their families, management and fans,” a New Zealand Rugby spokesperson said.
“Moana Pasifika has confirmed to NZR that it will continue to compete through to the conclusion of the current season. We know that they will give everything on the field to continue to inspire their communities.
“NZR remains supportive of Moana Pasifika’s vision to create pathways from the Pacific and is saddened by the challenges the club faces.
“We are aware there may be parties exploring financially viable and sustainable plans for the future of the team. NZR is open to engaging with those parties to discuss the club’s continued participation in Super Rugby Pacific.”
Rugby commentator and Lower Hutt mayor Ken Laban told Ryan Bridge TODAY up to 60 players and staff were facing an uncertain future at the club.
“I’ve had a quick exchange of texts with Tana [Umaga, the coach] after you contacted me about coming on your show and I asked him how many were at risk and all up, staff and players, 60 of them face a very uncertain future over the next few hours. I think official confirmation is due soon, it’s fair to say as far as Moana Pasifika is concerned, it looks like their future in Super Rugby is done,” Laban said.
“The rules of engagement when they first came into the competition were unfair. They weren’t allowed to have access to the top players in the competition so it wasn’t a level playing field,” Laban added.
“The allocation of broadcasting rights, what the New Zealand franchises got by comparison to what Moana Pasifika got is also an unfair distribution of the revenue generated by the broadcast rights. They’ve had a lot of barriers to overcome and now they’re facing the reality of Pasifika Medical Association not being able to support them beyond this year. If they were to remain in the competition they would need the support of New Zealand Rugby, Super Rugby and World Rugby. And I can’t believe that between the three of them they’re not able to come up with a deal that would secure them.”
Laban suggested the money was there in corporate New Zealand to save Moana Pasifika.
“NZR [New Zealand Rugby] and World Rugby have the marketing connections to help Moana Pasifika. I can understand New Zealand Rugby have financial pressures of their own and their own franchises to support. But I would have thought $12 million, surely you can share that among five to six corporates in New Zealand. Somebody like Sir John Key could make half a dozen phone calls and I’m sure he can change the financial equation for Moana Pasifika in five minutes,” Laban said.
Moana Pasifika currently sit bottom of the Super Rugby Pacific table with one win from eight games. They are already losing Umaga at the end of the season, after he was named as an assistant to new All Blacks coach Dave Rennie.
The club’s departure will leave Super Rugby Pacific with a 10-team competition and another restructure after the Melbourne Rebels left after the 2024 season. The current season is 14 regular-season matches each, with two byes, followed by a quarter-final format.
Moana Pasifika joined Super Rugby Pacific in 2022 and finished last in the first two seasons, with just three wins from 28 games.
The club’s best season was last year, led by All Blacks star Ardie Savea, who joined the franchise from the Hurricanes. They finished in seventh place, five points outside of the playoffs, including wins over the Hurricanes, Crusaders, Highlanders and Blues. But Savea is missing the current season and has spent an NZR sabbatical playing in Japan. He will now need to find a new team when he returns to Super Rugby in 2027.
Moana Pasifika travel to Sydney to face the New South Wales Waratahs on Friday. Moana will play their last game against the ACT Brumbies on May 30 in Canberra.
Moana were granted a licence to enter Super Rugby Pacific in 2022 and were set up with a mandate to identify and develop elite talent in Samoa and Tonga.
The initial presentations envisioned the side eventually being based in the Pacific Islands and playing most of their games in Samoa and Tonga.
The plan was to create a professional team that would provide a pipeline so talent could flow from Super Rugby Pacific through to the national teams of Samoa and Tonga.
But while the vision made sense and was widely supported by New Zealand’s five foundation Super Rugby Pacific sides, the financial costs and difficult logistics of setting up in the Pacific Islands proved insurmountable.
The club effectively morphed into a sixth New Zealand team, but without a permanent home and without the same financial structure as the other five.
As a result, they have struggled to consistently attract the quality of players they imagined or build the sort of fan base they need to generate a sustainable level of commercial income.
Moana Pasifika will join a long list of former Super Rugby teams becoming the 10th different franchise to leave the competition, including the South African contingent, which joined the Pro16 competition in Europe. The Sunwolves (2015-2020), Jaguares (2016–2020) and Rebels (2009-2024) are all former franchises that didn’t survive.
“We acknowledge our loyal fans for standing by us through the highs and lows – your support has meant everything to us, especially our players. We ask that you stand by your team today," Dr Maoate said.
“Our story has been one of resilience – not just as a franchise, but as Pacific people. While this will be devastating news to process, we continue to look ahead and navigate these next steps together, just as our people always have."
2022 – Played 14, Won 2, Lost 12 – Finished 12th
2023 – Played 14, Won 1, Lost 14 – Finished 12th
2024 – Played 14, Won 4, Lost 10 – Finished 11th
2025 – Played 14, Won 6, Lost 8 – Finished 7th
2026 – Played 8, Won 1, Lost 7 – Currently 11th