Moana Pasifika to Disband After 2026 Super Rugby Season as Owners Confirm Withdrawal
One of the most culturally significant experiments in modern New Zealand rugby has come to an end. Moana Pasifika have confirmed they will cease operations as a Super Rugby franchise following the conclusion of the 2026 season, after the team’s majority owners announced they will no longer fund the club beyond this year.
The news was delivered to players and staff on Tuesday by club chief executive Debbie Sorensen, who told them that the Pasifika Medical Association — which took over majority ownership of the franchise in 2024 — would honour its financial obligations through the remainder of the current season but would not continue running the club into 2027. RNZ reported that the decision brings to a close a five-year journey in the top tier of Southern Hemisphere rugby that began with enormous hope but was ultimately undone by the relentless financial demands of professional sport.
The Moana Pasifika Charitable Trust was established in 2021 by rugby legends Sir Michael Jones and Sir Bryan Williams, two of the most influential figures in Pacific Island rugby history. Their vision was to create a team that would serve as a pathway and platform for Polynesian players who too often fell through the cracks of the professional game or were overlooked despite their talent. The franchise made its debut with an exhibition match against the Maori All Blacks in 2020 and officially joined Super Rugby Pacific in 2022 as the competition expanded to eleven teams.
In the years since, Moana Pasifika produced moments of genuine quality and uncovered players who went on to wear the All Blacks jersey. But the financial reality of running a Super Rugby franchise — with annual operating costs estimated at between ten million and twelve million dollars — proved too great a burden for the ownership structure that had been assembled. World Rugby provided funding support in the early years, but that backing was withdrawn, leaving the club heavily dependent on the PMA to plug the gap.
Chair Dr Kiki Maoate did not shy away from the weight of the moment. “This is one of the hardest decisions we have ever made,” he said in a statement released by the club. “We are immensely proud of our players, staff, and the community.” The franchise said it remained committed to completing the 2026 season in a competitive spirit and would continue to advance Pacific rugby pathways and community initiatives beyond the professional team’s dissolution.
The timing adds a painful dimension to the announcement. Moana Pasifika currently sit at the bottom of the eleven-team competition with a record of one win from eight matches, making this an especially difficult season to navigate on and off the field. Head coach Tana Umaga, the former All Blacks captain who brought enormous credibility and passion to the role, is already confirmed to depart at season’s end, having been appointed to Dave Rennie’s All Blacks coaching staff. His exit was already known, but the disbanding of the franchise makes it feel even more final.
Umaga had spoken candidly about the structural challenges facing the team. When asked previously about the withdrawal of World Rugby funding, he was measured but pointed. “We don’t get funding from them anymore, and that’s their decision,” he said. It was a line that captured the frustration those inside the franchise had long felt about the absence of sustained support from the game’s global governing body.
New Zealand Rugby expressed disappointment at the news but stopped short of any immediate commitment to saving the franchise. NZR said it remained open to engaging with parties interested in exploring options to keep Moana Pasifika alive in some form beyond 2026. Whether a new owner emerges before the season concludes remains to be seen. The window is narrow and the financial ask is substantial.
If no buyer is found, Super Rugby Pacific will contract to ten teams from 2027, having briefly expanded to eleven with the simultaneous inclusion of Moana Pasifika and the Fijian Drua in 2022. The Drua have grown both on the field and commercially in that time, making their trajectory a bittersweet comparison for those who invested so much hope in the Moana Pasifika project. The two franchises were born together out of a shared ambition to give Pacific Island rugby its rightful place in the professional game. One will continue. The other will not.
The significance of this moment extends well beyond the results column. For many Pacific Island families across New Zealand and the wider Pacific, Moana Pasifika represented something far greater than a rugby team. It was proof that Pasifika voices, Pasifika stories, and Pasifika talent deserved their own stage at the highest level. Players from Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, and across the Pacific diaspora in New Zealand found in Moana Pasifika a team that felt genuinely theirs. That kind of belonging is not easily replaced.
There is still rugby to be played, and the club has promised to finish the season with pride. For players now looking for new contracts, for staff navigating an uncertain future, and for fans who turned up week after week carrying the weight of cultural expectation alongside their blue and white scarves, the months ahead will be hard. The hope now is that something — a new investor, a restructured ownership model, or a community-led revival — can keep the spirit of Moana Pasifika alive in professional rugby beyond this year.
What are your thoughts on the future of Pasifika rugby at the professional level, and what should New Zealand Rugby do to support it? Share your views in the comments below.