“Football is the most important of the least important things in life.”
The great Italian football coach Arrigo Sacchi was talking about a different sport, but the sentiment also rings true for rugby for Pacific peoples in New Zealand, Australia and the islands they still call home.
The southern hemisphere’s premier professional rugby union club competition, renamed Super Rugby Pacific for 2022, has featured teams from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina and Japan since its inception in 1996.
Countless Pasifika people have played for these clubs or franchises, but the islands have their own teams in Super Rugby this season – the Fijian Drua, who are run by the Fiji Rugby Union and have played all their matches in Australia so far due to Covid-19, and Moana Pasifika, who are partnered with the Samoan and Tongan Rugby Unions and based at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland.
The Drua (pronounced n’drua) bounced back from two tough opening losses last month to claim their first win against the Melbourne Rebels. Since then, they have only been denied further wins by last minute scores from the Queensland Reds and Western Force over the last fortnight.
Moana Pasifika have only played twice so far with Omicron outbreaks in the New Zealand-based team camps forcing game postponements.
After spending over a month bubbled in Queenstown with the other Kiwi sides, Moana had their first game at Mt Smart last Saturday behind closed doors. Finally, on Friday night they will play in front of fans for the first time when the Hurricanes visit.
Hooker Ray Niuia, who was born and raised in Auckland and has deep roots in the Samoan villages of Saipipi and Saanapu, will make his debut for the club on Friday and says it will be “unreal” to take the field in front of family and supporters.
“It’ll hopefully give us a bit of edge to play with,” Niuia said.
The 13-cap Manu Samoa veteran was one of a handful able to watch last week’s defeat to the Chiefs in person, but he and the other non-playing reserves created the atmosphere themselves all game long with songs and chants. They even brought out a portable sound system from the changing room at half-time.
“To just be able to create something out of nowhere, that’s just us I guess,” Niuia said. “That’s our culture, we’re not afraid to show it. Even if it’s just banging on the chairs with sticks and making chants, that’s just us.”
Tongan flanker Solomone Funaki is expecting more of the same on Friday night from the team’s burgeoning fanbase.
“We all know our Pacific people, they’re really supportive and loud,” the 27 year-old said. “It’s really motivational looking out at the fans, knowing your family will be out there in the stands somewhere.”
Funaki, who is from the villages of Fanga ‘o Pilolevu and Pangai, knows his parents will be watching him play on TV back home in Tonga.
He grew up watching Super Rugby there, becoming a fan of Otago’s Highlanders team because of a fellow Tongan - the All Black centre Malakai Fekitoa – and modelled his game after another Tongan in their former captain Nasi Manu.
Now that Moana Pasifika has become a reality, the next generation of players in the islands can dream of playing for a team that was created just for them.
Vice-chairperson of the Moana Pasifika board, Debbie Sorenson, can see it – an open fale, a big screen TV and everyone gathered around to see their team play every week.
The New Zealand-born Tongan said the challenges of Covid for communities both in the islands and abroad are having a huge impact, particularly on youth mental health.
“Being able to provide a story of hope, which is the story of Moana Pasifika, is really important,” Sorenson said. “It’s more than just a game; we’re creating futures for young men and eventually young women.”
She said not everyone understands the connection between sport and the good it can do.
“People often think it’s just a game of rugby, but there are longer and deeper benefits I think around inspiration and uplifting people’s spirits.”
