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Opinion

New Zealand Rugby aren't looking at the big picture with the Pacific Islands

Roar Guru
8th October, 2020
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Roar Guru
8th October, 2020
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The rejection of the Moana Pasifika bid to join the New Zealand Super Rugby Competition in 2021 is hard to comprehend and shows a lack of willingness on New Zealand Rugby’s part to expand the Super Rugby Competition and to grow the game in the Pacific.

The Moana Pasifika bid had been prepared meticulously and presented with a feasibility plan that contained more than 100 pages of cost analysis, possible teams and coaching teams.

NZ Rugby have said that they are going to have losses of $100 million, yet Moana Pasifika’s bid was expected to make a profit in their first season.

The bid showed through their projected sums that they could break even in 2021.

The Pacific Islands have been a nursery for producing some brilliant All Blacks over a long period of time, you only need to Look at two legendary figures of the game in Sir Bryan Williams and Sir Michael Jones who are a credit to the game of rugby union, are proud of their heritage and who have been passionately backing and campaigning for the Moana Pasifika bid to join the Super Rugby competition since 1995.

It goes without saying that it would do wonders for the development of rugby union in the Pacific Islands and how it would have inspired and motivated young boys to follow their dreams if the bid had been successful.

Now to make their vision a reality, they may be forced to rescope the bid and to shift the team from their proposed base in South Auckland to Western Sydney and play in the Australian Super Rugby competition.

One can only hope that NZ Rugby will reconsider their decision on the Moana Pasifika bid, which had a lot of merit, and look at it from all the different angles.

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