In the last match Moana Pasifika will ever play, they went to Canberra, lost a man to a second yellow card in the 63rd minute, and beat the Brumbies anyway.

That is how it ended. It is worth starting there, because the rest of this season was hard.

A note on player of the match: there was no Player of the Match award at any Super Rugby Pacific match in 2026.

The season at a glance

| | | |---|---| | Head coach | Fa'alogo Tana Umaga | | Captain | Miracle Faiʻilagi | | Ladder | 11th of 11, 2 wins 12 losses, 9 points | | Points | 276 for, 567 against | | Home grounds | North Harbour, Pukekohe, and Rotorua |

They began the season without Ardie Savea, away on sabbatical in Japan, and without Kyren Taumoefolau, gone to the Chiefs.

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The regular season

Round 1: Fijian Drua 26, Moana Pasifika 40 (Lautoka, 14 Feb)

An upset, away, in Fiji. New captain Miracle Faiʻilagi scored a hat-trick in his first match in charge, and Moana led 21-0 inside seventeen minutes. Their first ever win at Churchill Park. Of note: they sat third on the ladder after Round 1. It was the high-water mark of their year.

Round 2: Hurricanes 52, Moana Pasifika 10 (Wellington, 20 Feb)

Tuna Tuitama chipped and chased for the opener inside seven minutes, then the Hurricanes wings took over, Josh Moorby with a hat-trick.

Round 3: Moana Pasifika 19, Western Force 35 (Pukekohe, 27 Feb)

Their first home game of 2026, staged in South Auckland at a venue only confirmed three weeks beforehand. The Force, winless and bottom, got their first win in New Zealand in four years.

Round 4: Chiefs 57, Moana Pasifika 24 (Hamilton, 6 Mar)

In touch at 31-14 down at the break through Glen Vaihu's solo try and a Semisi Tupou Ta'eiloa maul finish, before Damian McKenzie's return performance pulled it apart.

Round 5: Blues 43, Moana Pasifika 7 (Eden Park, 15 Mar)

The game turned on a red card. Augustine Pulu was sent off in the 17th minute for a high shot that ended Sam Nock's afternoon. Even so, Moana trailed only 13-7 at halftime, and had two further tries denied before the break.

Round 6: Moana Pasifika 21, Crusaders 50 (North Harbour, 21 Mar)

The homecoming to Albany. They led 14-12 through Tevita Ofa and halfback Joel Lam and trailed just 17-14 at the break, then did not score again for the best part of an hour. Of note: Julian Savea left the field injured after four minutes.

Round 7: Moana Pasifika 19, Highlanders 39 (North Harbour, 27 Mar)

Twenty-seven down at halftime, then two yellow cards in five minutes left them playing a spell with thirteen. They scored all nineteen of their points in the second half. Of note: the strangest passage of the season. The stadium lost power around the hour mark and the broadcast died, leaving the final quarter watchable only at the ground or on Moana's own Instagram. Play resumed with a light tower still out.

Round 8: bye

Round 9: Moana Pasifika 17, Chiefs 62 (Rotorua, 11 Apr)

This was meant to be played in Tonga. The fixture was scheduled for Teufaiva Sport Stadium in Nukuʻalofa and moved to Rotorua, confirmed on 5 March. The reason was money: roughly $600,000 to freight about three tonnes of equipment into Tonga, a cost the club had to carry itself after sponsorship talks fell through and World Rugby stopped contributing. On the field, 26-0 down at halftime and ten tries conceded.

Round 10: Waratahs 29, Moana Pasifika 14 (Sydney, 17 Apr)

Played two days after the club announced it would fold. They led 14-12 at halftime through two Melani Matavao quick-tap tries and had chances to extend early in the second half. Of note: the match was suspended for around forty minutes with eleven to play because of lightning. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were in the crowd of 10,727.

Round 11: Highlanders 27, Moana Pasifika 17 (Christchurch, 26 Apr)

Led 10-7 at halftime and were within ten late. Israel Leota's leaping one-handed finish was described by the competition as one of the tries of the year. A Cam Millar penalty after the siren denied them even a bonus point. Of note: Patrick Pellegrini suffered a heavy knockout. Moana performed the Tau Moana; the Highlanders answered with Hautoa Kia Toa.

Round 12: Moana Pasifika 19, Blues 45 (North Harbour, 2 May)

The Battle of the 09. A clever opener, a midfield lineout off a quick tap for Mills Sanerivi to power over, and Sanerivi added a second. Then five unanswered Blues tries.

Round 13: Moana Pasifika 17, Hurricanes 50 (North Harbour, 9 May)

Heavy Albany rain, 19-5 down at the break, chances early in the second half that would not stick in the wet.

Round 14: bye

Round 15: Moana Pasifika 31, Reds 33 (North Harbour, 23 May)

Their last ever home match, and it nearly finished perfectly. Augustine Pulu scored inside ninety seconds. The Reds went 26-7 up early in the second half. Then Moana scored the next three, took the lead at 28-26, and a Pellegrini penalty on 76 minutes made it 31-26.

Jock Campbell scored off a scrum on 78 and Ben Volavola converted from in front.

Umaga afterwards: "It's been an emotional week, another tough one with all that's going on." And: "We talked about it earlier in the week, if we're here, let's do it well. The last thing we want to do is just peter out at the end."

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Round 16: Brumbies 19, Moana Pasifika 21 (Canberra, 30 May)

The last match in the franchise's history.

Four days after the club was placed into liquidation, with a squad that knew most of them would not be at the same club next week, Moana Pasifika went to Canberra and beat a Brumbies side heading for the finals.

Patrick Pellegrini scored twice to level it at 14-14 by halftime. Then Faletoi Peni was sent off on a second yellow in the 63rd minute, and they were down to fourteen for the rest of it. In the 73rd, replacement Melani Matavao stormed over to win it. The result knocked the Brumbies down to sixth.

It also snapped a twelve-match losing run, in the final game, away, a man short.

Umaga: "With all that had happened during the week, in terms of Moana going into liquidation, we knew we wouldn't see a lot of our group that we left behind."

And: "We talked a lot about our strong purpose of who we represent. We're representing our culture, our people, and we saw that come through in the end."

And this, which is the line of the season: "In all the emotion of the last few months, today, I couldn't tell you what happened in those other games. I can tell you what happened today, and I'm very proud of it. This one stands out."

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What happened to the club

On 15 April 2026 Moana Pasifika announced it would disband at the end of the season, citing financial, operational and strategic realities. Chair Dr Kiki Maoate: "This is one of the hardest decisions we have ever made." Around 60 players and staff were affected.

On 26 May, days before the final round, the club was placed into liquidation after its owners, the Pasifika Medical Association, resolved they could not keep funding it. In late June, New Zealand Rugby confirmed the dissolution, having rejected a rescue bid reportedly backed by the Samoan and Tongan governments, on the grounds that no party could show credible long-term funding.

Founded by Sir Michael Jones and Sir Bryan Williams, Moana Pasifika played in Super Rugby Pacific from 2022 to 2026, representing Samoa, Tonga and the wider Pacific. Their all-time records close at: most caps William Havili, 49; most tries Miracle Faiʻilagi, 14; most points Christian Leali'ifano, 146.

Tana Umaga finishes as the most successful coach in the club's history, and moves on to become an All Blacks assistant.

The season in the round

Eleventh, 2-12, nine competition points. Mills Sanerivi led the try-scoring on 5, with Patrick Pellegrini top-scoring on 56 points.

One correction worth making, because it has been repeated in print since: several articles have stated that Moana's only win of 2026 came against the Drua in Round 1. That is wrong. They won twice. The second was the Brumbies, in Canberra, in the last match the club ever played, with fourteen men.

It matters that the record is right. A team that spent a season being told it was finishing, that had a home fixture in Tonga priced out from under it, and that went into liquidation with one game to go, walked off the field in Canberra as winners.

Mālō, Moana Pasifika.