The demise of Moana Pasifika thrusts more change on Super Rugby and Ardie Savea
Thursday, 16 April 2026
ANALYSIS: The ripples from Moana Pasifika’s demise were quickly hitting shores around the islands once the embattled franchise pulled the plug on its own future.
Wednesday’s announcement that Moana would disband after five seasons at the end of this year’s Super Rugby Pacific was met with a mixture of sadness and frustration, but minimal outrage or shock.
Frankly, red flags have been radiating from the moment Moana entered Super Rugby in 2022.
The short-term ramifications are stark. Chief among them: where will superstar All Black Ardie Savea play when returning to Super Rugby next year?
And what will the southern hemisphere’s premier competition look like when forced to reshape again?
Moana are the second team to confirm their departure in the space of two years. The Melbourne Rebels folded in 2024 in similar circumstances.
The Rebels were also stricken by financial woes, poor results, pathetic crowds, and no sustainable future was clear without big losses being written off by a wealthy backer.
Stuff has broken down the key talking points from Moana’s collapse.
Life without Ardie
Signing Savea, one of the world’s best players, transformed Moana’s fortunes last year.
It was their best financial year and crowds at Albany’s North Harbour Stadium began to increase as Tana Umaga’s side launched a playoff push, following historic wins over the Crusaders and the Blues, although they fell short in the final rounds.
The loose forward was a totemic figure on and off the field. A proud and outrageously gifted player of Samoan heritage, determined to represent the Pacific, he embodied everything Moana dreamed of with a fervent mantra of “faith, family and footy”.
There was no accounting for Savea once he decided to miss the 2026 season because of a second sabbatical in Japan. Moana’s performances have gone with him, with their defence a major problem.
Savea was box office and won Super Rugby’s player of the year award in 2025. More fans were drawn just to watch him rampage around the turf. They haven’t come back.
Due to return to Super Rugby in 2027, the 32-year-old has become available to the five Kiwi Super Rugby teams. He is the only Moana player contracted to New Zealand Rugby.
His former team, the Hurricanes, will be favourites to re-sign him. The Blues, based in Auckland like Moana, might be tempted to try. The Chiefs, Crusaders and Highlanders might, too. He might want to play in Japan again.
Savea’s absence coincided with rising concerns about Moana’s financial state, which ultimately caused their downfall.
What next for Super Rugby?
Moana’s bleak situation is a terrible look for a competition desperate to rediscover its early glory days.
From 12 teams to 10, officials will have to determine a new format (again) for 2027 and beyond.
Super Rugby has moved from unsuccessful expansion with more teams in the 2010s to its shrinking state since relaunching without South African sides in 2022.
The current format has 11 teams each playing 14 matches before the top six contest the playoffs, finishing with a grand final.
With 10 sides, a straightforward home-and-away format with 18 regular season fixtures could be desirable.
Six from 10 making the playoffs could be considered too many and an alternative might be lowering that threshold to four, who would play in semifinals for a place in the final.
Whatever happens, it’s another tweak to Super Rugby for disillusioned fans to bemoan.
Doomed from the start?
In some ways, Moana’s plight has embodied the challenges Super Rugby faces to excel in a crowded sporting market.
Launching in 2022 when Covid-19 was still forcing crowd restrictions, they were stuck at Go Media Stadium playing in a cavernous atmosphere with almost no fans.
That hardly improved once restrictions lifted. It was a poor reflection on them and the game.
Established by the Moana Pasifika Charitable Trust, they initially had financial support from the New Zealand Government and World Rugby. That was to get them rolling.
Their long-term plan was to base the team in Samoa or Tonga, although finding their home was an issue. Moving to North Harbour never felt permanent. Home matches were staged in seven different venues, also including Whangārei, Pukekohe, Rotorua, Samoa and Tonga.
Moana were also hopeful of attracting some of the best Pacific players from around the world, while giving unwanted talent another pathway to succeed in professional rugby.
They could progress from Super Rugby — instead of distant lands overseas — to play for their Pacific nation in tests.
Moana also developed a distinct Pasifika identity with the aim of inspiring younger generations. There was a vibrant, colourful atmosphere when fans did turn up.
When government and World Rugby’s funding ended, in 2024, a majority share of the franchise was sold to the Pasifika Medical Association Group, which was previously a minor shareholder.
However, generating any buzz or excitement in their formative years never materialised. Neither fans nor sponsors were onboard enough to suggest there was a genuine hope of forming a self-sustaining business model to keep Moana afloat.
Before Savea, they also struggled to attract enough talent to be competitive in matches on a regular basis. They won just three in their opening two years when Aaron Mauger was coach.
While granted a Super Rugby licence by NZ Rugby, Moana have not been affiliated to the national game’s governing body. They were their own entity, based in Auckland.
Attracting a supporter base was difficult. Even the Blues, the city’s traditional Super Rugby team, battle to draw crowds to Eden Park. Fans in Auckland don’t flock to domestic rugby matches like they once did.
Another competitor for Aucklanders’ affections, the Warriors, were just beginning their resurgence after Covid-19 when Moana were searching for lift-off. Once the “Up the Wahs” movement began, it was a losing battle with the nation’s flagship league club.
A city renowned for its fickle fans, Moana’s consistent pattern of losing didn’t help.
They had little chance of competing for players with the established Kiwi sides, and were often relying on those their rivals didn’t want.
From their current squad, players such as No 8 Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa, loose forward Miracle Faiilagi and hooker Millennium Sanerivi are likely to get picked up elsewhere.
Others aren’t guaranteed certain futures and might look to destinations such as Japan or Europe to earn a living.
Dozens of the franchise’s staff will also be losing their jobs.
Blaring warning signs
The season began without Savea and Umaga urging World Rugby to offer more support to solidify Moana’s standing.
Their future seemed more precarious. The plan to stage last Saturday’s match with the Chiefs in Tonga was scrapped because of a lack finances and sponsors, and moved to Rotorua.
Umaga was repeating how it wasn’t a level playing field for them because they couldn’t match the contracts other teams were offering players.
The iconic former All Blacks captain also blasted the Blues, who he used to coach, for making it “very hard for us to survive” in Auckland.
The public figure of the franchise, Umaga was soon confirmed to be another departure, joining Dave Rennie’s new team of assistants with the All Blacks in June. Another blow.
Moana’s promising opening win over the Fijian Drua in Lautoka was undone by seven successive defeats to leave them bottom, 16 points shy of the playoff places.
Their season has unravelled, mired by defensive lapses in heavy losses, and the lights going out towards the end of their last home match against the Highlanders at North Harbour Stadium was an uncomfortable metaphor for their predicament.
How Umaga motivates his team to fulfil their final six matches is tough to comprehend, starting against the Waratahs in Sydney on Friday night.
Their impending exit could galvanise a group of players desperate to prove themselves, or leave them demoralised with nothing but pride to play for.