Coach Tana Umaga fears that a vast pool of Pacific talent would be lost to rugby union if Moana Pasifika are dumped from Super Rugby and the competition shrinks to 10 teams.
Umaga spoke about the wider importance of his team following their 29-14 loss to the New South Wales Waratahs in Sydney on Friday, an eighth successive defeat for his team, who are last in the standings.
Moana’s ownership on Wednesday announced that it would not continue funding the side beyond this season due to a lack of commercial support and small crowds.
Photo: AFP
New Zealand Rugby is hoping another entity will purchase the license for Moana, with the club set up as a pathway for Tongan, Samoan and Cook Island players.
The team have been based in Auckland for their five seasons of existence rather than playing regular games in the Pacific islands, as planned.
Former All Blacks captain Umaga said that disbanding Moana would remove a professional platform for Pasifika players.
“The gap between where we [Samoan and Tongan unions] are currently, internationally, to where we need to get to, is very big,” Umaga told reporters. “Without Moana to bridge that gap, it’s going to be tough.”
“If we keep going the way we’re going, the possibility is that they might not make the next cycle of the World Cup,” he said. “There’s still a glimmer of hope for us, and that’s what we’ve got to look forward to and we’ve just got to keep pushing forward.”
Umaga, who is to take up a post as All Blacks assistant coach this year, praised his team’s on-field efforts following a difficult week.
They led 14-12 at halftime thanks to two tries to scrumhalf Melani Matavao, both from quick taps.
The Waratahs dominated the second half, boosted by fullback Sid Harvey’s two tries to notch a fourth win from eight games and climb to seventh.
Coach Dan McKellar praised the Waratahs’ composure, particularly late in the game after the players were taken from the field in the 70th minute because of a risk of lightning strikes.
The match was delayed for 40 minutes.
“We had a really clear plan around what we needed to do in that last 10 minutes,” McKellar said. “That’s probably the most pleasing part is that we were all pretty calm and understood what was required.”
In the weekend’s other games, the Auckland Blues (third ahead of the final match of the weekend) beat the Otago Highlanders (ninth) 47-40 on Friday, while yesterday the Waikato Chiefs claimed top spot from the Wellington Hurricanes (second) by beating them 22-17 and the Fijian Drua (eighth) downed the ACT Brumbies (fourth) 33-28 at GIO Stadium in Canberra.
The Drua’s victory was their first ever in Canberra after joining the competition in 2022.
The Western Force (10th) and the Canterbury Crusaders (sixth) are to play today, while the Queensland Reds (fifth) have a bye.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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