All Blacks great Tana Umaga fears Moana Pasifika exit could see Tonga and Samoa lost to rugby league
All Blacks legend Tana Umaga says he fears Moana Pacifica’s departure from Super Rugby Pacific could open the door for rugby league to take over Samoa and Tonga and see the proud Pacific nations struggle to qualify for Rugby World Cups in the future.
Moana Pacifica’s outgoing coach Umaga issued stern warnings after his team ended a “tough week” with defeat against the NSW Waratahs in Sydney on Friday night.
After five seasons in Super Rugby, Moana Pacifica’s future was thrown into serious doubt this week when the owners announced they would not fund the team after this season.
The statement essentially stated that Moana Pacifica would be withdrawn, but Umaga said players and staff held a “glimmer of hope” after New Zealand Rugby said it was talking to potential investors about continuing the team.
An investor group is still looking for backers and is talking directly to NZR about purchasing the licence.
Umaga, who has already announced a move to the All Blacks squad after this Super Rugby season, said there was slim hope but also expressed deep concern for rugby in the Pacific should Moana Pacifica be closed.
With support from World Rugby, the series has launched as an outlet for Samoan and Tongan players to play at a high level in 2022. But since they couldn’t play in Samoa, they had to be in Auckland and success on and off the field was difficult to achieve.
But Umaga said Moana was a vital pathway for young Tongans and Samoans and without it, many players selected to play Tests for their country may have to return to the rugby club.
“The difference between where we are internationally for Samoa and Tonga and where we need to be is huge,” Umaga said. “And if we don’t have opportunities like Moana to continue to close that gap, then we’re going to have a hard time.
“In the last four years Samoa has made it to the World Cup. The cycle before that was Tonga.” [just making it]. “And if we keep going like this, we don’t want that to happen, but there is a possibility that Samoa or Tonga might not qualify for the next round of the World Cup.”
The threat of Samoa and Tonga falling behind the rest of the world is made even more dangerous by the fact that rugby league is growing in both countries and the NRL has been given a war chest by the Australian government as part of the Papua New Guinea Chiefs expansion deal. Rugby remains the national sport in Samoa and Tonga but Umaga worries about how long that will last without pathways for elite players.
“If there’s nothing to compete with, then I’m sure [league taking over] It’s probably something we should think about. “This is the real risk,” he said.
“It’s okay if we’re not there, but what about Samoa and Tonga? Rugby league has a great product at the moment and it’s very popular.
“There’s a lot of money being put into it and they’re promoting it all over the islands. Pacific Islanders make up almost 40 per cent of all players in the NRL, similar to rugby.”
“Our people are made for the game, they love the game and they make big numbers of it. But most of them, if they all go to the league then it’s going to be a sad time and a sad place for rugby to be.”
Tonga and Samoa are set to receive a major funding boost from the Australian government worth around $50 million each over five years, and there are plans to include teams from Fiji, Tonga and Samoa in an expanded version of Super Rugby AUS, the second-tier state competition launched last year.
Fijian Drua used a similar platform (the now defunct National Rugby Championship) to become a Super Rugby team, and the Tonga and Samoa rugby unions hope this route could lead to them joining the competition in the future.
Umaga said joining Super Rugby AUS would be a great step.
“To make rugby stronger, you have to have these pathways and these opportunities for these players to learn how to be better professionals, how to play in high-performance environments and how to play at an elite level,” he said.
“We know our boys can play the game – they are super talented – but the challenges of playing quality rugby week in and week out are probably not on the field, it is something our players need to learn the most – everything off the field.
“You can’t come in on Saturday and play rugby like you do on Tuesday or Thursday and train for an hour and a half at night.”
Meanwhile, Wallabies prop Angus Bell will be sidelined for a period after suffering a left ankle injury while playing for Ulster against Leinster in the United Rugby Championship in Belfast.
Bell is on leave from Australian rugby with Ulster and was due to return for the Wallabies’ July Tests, but this latest setback could see him miss those matches.
Bell has previously struggled with foot injuries and missed large parts of the 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons, but had a clean bill of health in 2025 and has been in strong form for Ulster this season.
Bell left the field in a medical car and will undergo scans to determine the length of his rehabilitation period.
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Iain Payten is senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect with: X or email.
