Moana Pasifika players in a huddle after a clash against the Crusaders at North Harbour Stadium. Photo / Photosport

'Heartbreaking decision': Moana Pasifika to disband at end of season

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Author: Gregor Paul & Cameron McMillan,
Publish Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2026, 8:20am

Moana Pasifika will disband at the end of the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season, the club announced today.

The Herald reported yesterday that 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 $12m.

Moana announced that after five seasons, they have made the “difficult and heartbreaking decision” to disband the franchise following the conclusion of the current season.

This decision was made after an extensive consideration of the financial, operational and strategic realities facing the franchise as well as professional rugby in New Zealand, the club said.

“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.

The Herald understands Moana Pasifika chief executive Debbie Sorensen, who is also chief executive of the Pasifika Medical Association (PMA), which owns the Super Rugby side, informed all staff yesterday afternoon that the owner will meet its financial obligations for the remainder of the 2026 season but will not be running the club next year.

The decision by the PMA to cut ties with the club means 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 $12m.

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 PMA suffered a financial blow when it lost a government contract worth $44m.

Rugby commentator and Lower Hutt mayor Ken Laban told Ryan Bridge TODAY that up to 60 players and staff face an uncertain future with official confirmation expected today.

“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. 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 $12m, 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 has he spends an NZR sabbatical playing in Japan. He may not have a team to return to 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 Pasifika's running costs are estimated to be between $10 million and $12m a year. Photo / Photosport

Moana was granted a licence to enter Super Rugby Pacific in 2022 and was 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 its 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 becomes 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.