The sight of Moana Pasifika running out in their red, white and blue heritage jerseys for their Super Rugby Pacific clash against the Highlanders at North Harbour Stadium may tug at a few heartstrings.
It’ll summon flashbacks to a cold July night in 2004 at the same venue, when their predecessors challenged the All Blacks and ticked off a “what if” on rugby’s bucket list.
What if the best players of Samoa, Tonga and Fiji joined forces and battled the sport’s powerhouses in the southern hemisphere?
The 2004 Pacific Islanders team, featuring future All Blacks Sione Lauaki and Sitiveni Sivivatu, along with Seru Rabeni, Lome Fa’atau and Brian Lima, valiantly fell to New Zealand 41-26, and earned respect with a combination of brute physicality and flamboyant play that’s long been associated with Pacific Island rugby.
“It was magical,” recalled former Tongan and Pacific Islanders skipper Inoke Afeaki.
“I’ve played in some amazing teams, full of some of the greatest players on the planet, but easily I’d say this team had the most X-factor. You couldn’t quantify it,” says Afeaki, who was part of a Hurricanes side with Jonah Lomu and Christian Cullen.
That view is echoed by former Manu Samoa skipper Lemalu Semo Sititi.
“Our Pacific Island people are happy people and that’s how we play. We just play with what’s in front and I believe any Pacific Islander, once they’re happy, that’s when we bring the best out of them.
“Yes, we do have systems — some sequences from lineouts and scrums — but when it comes to general play, that’s when our brothers play with flair.”
The 2004 roadshow saw the combined team pick up wins over a Queensland XV and the New South Wales Waratahs, before tasting defeat against the southern hemisphere triumvirate of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
It can be time consuming to develop chemistry on tour with players from different backgrounds, but the Pacific Islanders made that task effortless.
“Usually you have one jokester and one guy that can sing or is good on the guitar. You had a team that was 90% musically gifted,” Afeaki said.
“The togetherness was there right from the start. Nothing but respect for each other.”
“The one thing that connected us was our singing,” Sititi added. “But then it comes down to church and prayer afterwards.
“I was part of the leadership, and we encouraged people not to go as Samoans when you go away for coffee – make sure there’s other people from different nations and take them so you can get to know them.
“We know the person, but we don’t know their attitude and character, so that’s what we created in the team.”
The All Blacks side that night was led by Fa’alogo Tana Umaga, who is now steering the Moana Pasifika vessel in Super Rugby.
“[The heritage jersey] is a tribute to our beginnings. That was the start of it and there was a bit of a hiatus after that and now Moana Pasifika’s filled that space now,” Umaga said.
“We want to make sure we acknowledge our past, we draw strength from them, and we want to make sure that what they started, we continue with.”
Players were selected based on their performances in the Pacific Tri-Nations, allowing the combined team to field a competitive line-up. Former Fijian international Ifereimi Rawaqa was one of 11 players from his island country featured.
”We brought that balance in the squad, especially with the rivalry between Tonga and Samoa – we were there in the centre and that helped connect our team,” Rawaqa said.
”Everything blended in together. It was a blessing to be a part of that team. One thing that was good was we earned our caps as well.”
Between Afeaki, Sititi and Umaga, the dominance of Tongan powerhouse Sione Lauaki and Fijian flyer Sitiveni Sivivatu is the main theme from that 2004 affair, with the pair dotting down for three of the Pacific side’s four tries.
“I remember Lauaki was outmuscling their loose forwards and even Sitiveni was outstanding against them,” Sititi said.
Afeaki recalled: “Lauaki just stepping and weaving and outrunning backs. Sivivatu just being too good for anyone he came across.”
Umaga echoes the same memory: “Lauaki and Sivivatu carving us up.”
The following year, the pair would make their debuts in the black jersey. The other try from the Pacific Islanders was scored by Fijian fullback Seru Rabeni, who got a handy assist from Afeaki in the lead-up.
“I probably had the most boring job of being a lock,” said the former Tongan international.
“Rabeni, he scored a try under the posts, gang-tackled by some All Blacks, and I had to do my one job in the game and hit that ruck and hit him as hard as I could and I got him over the line.
“We scored four tries against the All Blacks, and that’s not easy. The month before, England couldn’t even put one try on them!”
The duelling captains that night, Afeaki and Umaga, swapped jerseys in what marked a pivotal moment in their friendship, stemming from their days as 12-year-olds playing for Hutt Valley.
“I’m not surprised that Tana’s in there [at Moana Pasifika] giving his best to make sure that the next lot of guys that are going through this rugby machine are getting the best opportunities,” said Afeaki.
Future iterations of the Pacific Islanders would see the group traverse the northern hemisphere, before the alliance would collapse in 2009, citing a lack of revenue generated from their tours.
“The potential was there to be an amazing team, to try and get into Super Rugby, but it didn’t have a focus on whether it wanted to be a super team or an international team,” says Afeaki.
“We were ahead of our time for Super Rugby, but if they’d started with a Pasifika team back then, I could only imagine how good the stock of players could be.
“Then the financial model of sustainability comes into it, which is something that the Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika are doing well.”
Sititi is proud to see Moana Pasifika carrying on the legacy of Pacific rugby.
“It’s a privilege to see our brothers from other nations playing for Moana and even Ardie [Savea] coming to represent. It tells us how important their heritage is to them and their families.”
The former Manu Samoa skipper notes the heavy material of the 2004 red, white and blue jersey, particularly in the wet.
But that may be the heavy burden carried by some of Pacific rugby’s finest more than two decades ago, in an effort to relieve any pressure for the next generation.
That generation now stands freely upon the shoulders of the giants before them, as they look to flip the Super Rugby landscape.
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