Auckland-based Pasifika bid for Super Rugby unveiled ^Featured

Moana Pasifika has been working on its pitch since June, and has a heavyweight group of backers, including the former Attorney-Generals of Samoa and Tonga.

It’s understood there’s informal support for the bid from the Samoan, Tongan and Fijian rugby unions.

The bid group will pitch their franchise – to play its home games at Mt Smart Stadium in south Auckland – as bringing a boost to the competition by both opening up new streams of commercial revenue and bringing in new fans.

The franchise would plan to use the Bruce Pulman Park complex in Papakura, south Auckland, as its training base – and eventually as the home of an Academy which would train the best young talent from Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.

They would play their home games in year one at Mt Smart, and if the competition expanded back to a Super Rugby format in 2022, would then look to take games to the islands and to Australia.

The group's argument is they would add to the competition, not drain other franchises, because they would tap into a new player pool – particularly targeting island players currently playing in European competitions – a new commercial stream from Pasifika-based companies, and a new group of fans, with the hope that the passionate group of Mate Ma'a Tonga league fans would translate across to rugby.

They believe there is enough Pacific Island talent in the Mitre 10 Cup not signed to Super franchises to give it a competitive team in 2021, and that they could begin attracting Pacific internationals back from European competitions ready for the 2022 competition.

Management consultants Deloitte, led by partner Lisa Tai, is undertaking the feasibility work for the new franchise. It’s understood representatives have already met with the NZ Rugby, and sports minister Grant Robertson as well as the New Zealand and Pacific Players’ Associations.

The bid is backed by a heavyweight group of supporters, including Williams, lawyer Lemalu Hermann Retzlaff, a former Attorney-General of Samoa and ex-Labour parliamentary candidate, Aminiasi Kefu, the former Attorney General of Tonga, and Manu Samoa old boys vice-president Tapuai Faamalua Tipi. The bid chair is Pelenato Sakalia, the chief executive of the Pacific Business Trust.

Pelenato Sakalia, the chief executive of the Pacific Business Trust is among the bid team.

The push for a Pasifika Super Rugby franchise has grown in momentum following the release of NZ Rugby’s Aratipu Report, which outlined NZR’s plans for the Super Rugby model for 2021 and beyond. The report favoured a competition between eight and 10 teams, with a preference for one of those spots to be filled by a Pasifika team.

NZR chief rugby officer Nigel Cass said the organisation has engaged with a number of interested parties as it works through the structure of next year’s competition as part of the ongoing work around the Aratipu review.

“As we’ve said previously NZR has a strong desire for a Pasifika team to be involved at some point,” he said.

“Ultimately we think a Pasifika team would be good for our competition, popular with fans and add a beneficial pathway for Pasifika players to perform on the world stage.

“Our decisions for 2021 and beyond will be based on ensuring teams are competitive and sustainable for the future.”

NZR would not be drawn on when teams for the 2021 competition would be confirmed, stating only that an announcement would be made in “due course”.

Tex Teixeira, Sky’s chief content officer, said they would prefer a third game each week – but only if a sixth franchise was instantly competitive.

“An extra game carried with it potentially additional costs, potentially additional rights fees and production costs so yes to a third game, but … we are going for quality over quantity.

“We would be happy to have a third game, but we need them all to be competitive, as they have been this season. Most games have been very close, and even when there has been more than 12 point differential, it’s been tight until the 70th minute or even the 75th minute.”

Moana Pasifika have explored an initial agreement with the Counties-Manukau rugby union, which could involve the Steelers seconding staff and providing an administrative base to help them get started in 2021.

Counties chief executive Aaron Lawton said: “From our perspective, it is a very exciting prospect. We have had a lot of dialogue with the Moana Pasifika group.

They are very impressive, and while nothing is over the line yet by any stretch, we have certainly indicated an interest to work with them on something we feel could have a massive long-term impact on rugby in our region.”

Beyond 2021, Counties could collaborate with Moana Pasifika on high-performance pathways and a rejuvenated local secondary schools competition under the franchise’s brand.

“For us, it’s about more than just 2021.

While we would love to see a sixth team in our backyard next year, we think the potential [long-term] benefits that would apply to a Moana Pasifika secondary school competition in south Auckland, among other things, a high performance pathway, a chance for our best talent to come through and play for the Steelers, and then on to Super Rugby with Moana Pasifika is a pretty exciting prospect.

“We have certainly articulated to NZR that we are very keen to be involved here, and obviously then it is going to come down to decisions around the viability of it.

“But from our perspective, we think this could be massive for rugby in our region.”

Blues chief executive Andrew Hore said he had no comment to make regarding the potential for a second Auckland-based Super Rugby franchise.

- Stuff