Crisis in Super Rugby Pacific: a franchise will leave the tournament due to financial problems

He Super Rugby Pacific will have the loss of a franchise for the next season: it is Moana Pasifikaso the competition will be reduced to only 10 teams.

The club’s owners informed the team that they would not continue participating in the competition next season due to lack of financing. This would mean that, after starting as a 12-team tournament in 2022, Super Rugby Pacific will have only 10 teams from 2027, since Rebels dissolved at the end of the 2024 season due to financial debt.

In a statement, Moana Pasifika president Kiki Maoate said the decision to close the business was “one of the most difficult” he has had to make: “This is one of the most difficult decisions we have made. We are immensely proud of our players, staff and the community that has supported our team over the years“he noted.

“Through our rugby, talent development and community programmes, we have been able to support a growing pool of Pacific talent across various sporting disciplines, both locally and across the Pacific region. We are extremely proud of this and will continue to support and promote it wherever we can,” he counted.

Moana Pasifika, Originally created by New Zealand Rugby with the help of World Rugby, it has had problems for some time, as rumors about its future have circulated in recent months. Besides, Tana Umaga, The team’s head coach will join Dave Rennie’s All Blacks staff after the close of this edition of the championship.

So far in the Super Rugby Pacific season, the team has only one victory in nine appearances, with seven losses and a negative difference of 207 points.