Moana Pasifika 2023
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Moana Pasifika has assembled an exciting and consistent team for the 2023 DHL Super Rugby Pacific Season with 38 of the 39 contracted players capped during their inaugural year in the competition.
Headlining the five new signings in the 2023 squad is Samoa-based loose forward, Miracle Fai’ilagi. The 23-year old was identified by Head Coach Aaron Mauger and Forwards Coach Leota Filo Tiatia at the World Rugby Pacific Combine held in Suva, Fiji.
The combine serves as a pathway to representing the Pacific Island national teams and provides exposure to a high-performance program. The top athletes from Samoa, Tonga & Fiji assembled in September for an intensive training week to emulate a professional rugby environment.He has represented Samoa in Rugby Sevens ...
Four further players have earned themselves their first Super Rugby contracts after impressing as replacement players for Moana Pasifika in 2022.
Otago’s Abraham Pole
Manu Samoa first five eighth D’Angelo Leuila
Ta$man Mako lock Mahonri Ngakuru and North Harbour loose forward Michael Curry -
I don't know anything about the duration of the contracts of most of the MP players, so don't know how many spots they had to fill (other than the five mentioned), but if attracting experienced players from the Northern Hemisphere was one of their goals, they have not succeeded in doing so. Not a single "returned" player has been added to the squad.
Last year, the excuse was the short time frame for signing players. This year?
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57K views · 2.7K reactions | Meet Miracle Faiilagi, our newest. 🤝🏾...
Meet Miracle Faiilagi, our newest. 🤝🏾 In a Super Rugby Pacific first, Miracle is the first player ever to be signed straight out of Samoan club rugby. 🇼🇸
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@Stargazer Jonah Mau'u from Northland has joined the squad as a short term replacement too (is a 7)
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Looks like Jonah Mau'u has been added to the MP roster permanently as opposed to injury cover as he was originally.
Taniwha loose forward called up for Moana Pasifika
Waipū premier rugby skipper Jonah Mau'u has been selected for Moana Pasifika.
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@Stargazer yep, none up here.
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Moana Pasifika coach Aaron Mauger says the Super Rugby franchise would love to be based in the islands permanently ahead of their first match in Samoa on Friday.
Mauger joined Stuff's The Podium sports podcast from Samoa where his team were enjoying a parade as they prepared for the match against the Reds in Apia (4.05pm kickoff).
“Our team are aware of why our team was formed and who it's for, every Pacific Island person,” Mauger says.Mauger says plenty of work needs to be done in order for Moana, who play their home games at Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium, to permanently play games in Samoa and Tonga.
“We would love to be based in the islands. That's a big job creating the infrastructure to be able to do that and to compete at the highest level. We're not playing club rugby, we're playing against seasoned internationals, the best players in the world, so it's a tough competition.”
Podcast (starts at about 1:18):
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Aaron Mauger has resigned as Moana Pasifika head coach, the Herald understands.
Mauger is expected to remain in charge for Moana Pasifika’s final regular season matches against the Drua in Fiji and Waratahs in Sydney but he is believed to have informed the team last Friday he will not see out the final year of his contract next season.
Amid Moana’s 12-match winless campaign rumours of unrest surfaced in recent weeks, with suggestions players were refusing to re-sign beyond this year.
High performance consultant Eddie Kohlhase, the Black Sox great who New Zealand Rugby hired to sit on the appointment panel that anointed Scott Robertson as All Blacks coach from next year, is believed to have conducted a review of Moana where player feedback is said to be grim.
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Here's the stuff article, which is not hidden behind a pay-wall:
Moana Pasifika name 2023 DHL Super Rugby Pacific Squad – Moana Pasifika
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