Wellington (AFP) - Moana Pasifika will not play Super Rugby in 2027 after a last-minute bid to rescue the financially troubled franchise failed, New Zealand Rugby said on Wednesday.

The side’s owners announced earlier this year they were pulling out of the venture after failing to put it on a sustainable commercial footing.

The governments of New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga stepped in to help broker a lifeline, but governing body New Zealand Rugby said those efforts had been fruitless.

“Unfortunately, the long-term financial requirements to participate in the competition could not be met,” said New Zealand Rugby chief financial officer Chris Kinraid.

“We want to be clear, the door remains open beyond 2027. We firmly believe a team can be based in the Pacific Islands and that a sustainable long-term solution can be found in the future.”

The Auckland-based team were established in 2020 to provide a top-level pathway for players of Pacific heritage.

The yearly cost of running Moana Pasifika was more than US$5.9 million.

New Zealand sports minister Mark Mitchell said the government was on the list of creditors for the liquidated business, having given a US$1.6m loan.

Kinraid said a viable backer for the team would need “commercial revenue of more than NZ$10m (US$5.7m) in addition to broadcast revenue”.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said he was “very disappointed”.

“We had hoped NZ Rugby would grant us more time, but they decided they had to move ahead announcing today that the team will not be part of Super Rugby next year.”

Super Rugby said in a statement “this outcome is disappointing for everyone connected with the club, including players, coaches, staff, supporters, partners and stakeholders”.

- Failed plans -

Moana Pasifika from their inception were hamstrung in their ability to attract players and generate revenue.

They were under strict rules preventing recruitment of players from other Super Rugby teams, and they were given a fraction of the television revenue that other New Zealand clubs received.

The team were based in Auckland but played their matches on the North Shore, up to an hour’s drive away from the South Auckland communities of largely Pacific origin.

While they were supposed to host several matches each year in Samoa and Tonga to grow the game in the Pacific islands, television commitments meant those plans never came to fruition.

In five seasons, Moana only played two home matches in the Pacific islands, one in Tonga in 2024 and one in Samoa in 2023.

Fijian Drua are the only team of the 10 remaining in the southern hemisphere competition that are not from New Zealand or Australia.

Moana are the second Super Rugby team to fold in three years, after Australia’s Melbourne Rebels closed in 2024 citing financial problems.

Super Rugby has gone through various iterations since its launch in 1996, starting with 12 teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and then becoming Super 14 when two more sides were added.

It expanded again, first to 15 then to an ultimately unworkable 18 teams a decade ago, with Japan and Argentina involved, before reverting to 15.

The Covid pandemic again forced change and a new era kicked off in 2022, after the exit of South African sides, with five Australian and five New Zealand teams joined by Drua and Moana.