SPOTLIGHT: This is Moana Pasifika

[@whitefire06]

It's so awesome to have a team that allows Pasifika Kiwis to represent their Pacific heritage.

[@mihlaliqoma9039]

I can imagine the uproar if we'd do this here in South Africa,how I wish our cultures were celebrated and acknowledged the way it's done in NZ😏

[@alexandra9629]

It would quickly become an argument about which culture should be the dominant representative within the team.. in typical South African fashion of course.

[@mihlaliqoma9039]

@@alexandra9629 No argument there mate there's absolutely no need for one culture to be dominant we've always been diverse but obviously there's more Xhosa , Koi-san(colored) then Zulu rugby players than from other tribes.

[@jarredmcclutchie8743]

Chur the brothers! Good to see our other Whanau are finally getting something they deserve ✊🏽

[@vetaiapettitt9749]

Almost put me to tears

[@fu8713]

Wow

[@jwizzeybhoy4397]

With yous always my pasifika brother , insprational team my father from samoa , so hard to supoort one team but both , go hard teach our young pasifika children to reach for the sky ,

[@kikia6611]

Always awesome watching the Pacific Island teams play each other, huge respect to everyone involved.

[@aperaruapeeta4309]

Awesome my Polynesian brothers our tupuna would be proud.

[@ranieraherewini4902]

Beautiful mā poly brothers💯 kia kaha Kia koutou, kia tatou Mauri Ora 💙

[@whitefire06]

Would love for this team to remain outside of Super Rugby and be more like the Maori All Blacks. More and more Pacific Islanders consider NZ their home. But being of Pacific Island decent, their culture etc remains a huge part of their identity so it's nice to allow them to represent that Pacific heritage without having to give up their dream of being an All Black someday.

[@MusMasi]

New Zealand is a pacific island too, and originally settled by polynesians. I think at least one of the players in the pasifika moana team has played 7s for samoa, hopefully some will play for the other south pacific nations if they do not make or choose to not try and play for the ABs.

[@vitobaleinadogo8973]

inspirational to our young upcoming rugby generation

[@keza41]

Watching these two teams going at it is going to be awesome. Can. Not. Wait. Best of luck to both.

[@MrFijibati]

Hats off to all relevant stakeholders for their continuous hard work, sacrifice and never say die efforts 👍 Finally, after years and years of door knocking.. a door opens.. an opportunity for all Pacific Islands 💪 A big vinaka vaka levu to everyone who made this opportunity possible on behalf of all my Pacific brothers and sisters from 🇫🇯

[@mataicakau237]

Oh man! This just got deeper and made me feel so proud of this team! God bless everyone and go hard Pasifika warriors!

[@LanceODoherty5905]

Always loved the culture and unity of the island people. This gone be a war I’m so excited for this and you know the hakas are gonna be lit too!

[@Abdulrashid-ue8le]

I love this❤️ go Moana !!!

[@trellybo1t]

Who remembers the 2004-2008 Pacific Island Rugby Team?? That squad was stacked!!!!!

[@trellybo1t]

They never played each other back then

[@Samizouza]

I do, too bad it dissolved the moment one of the three unions pulled out just like JRU pulling the plug on the sunwolves

[@markkillip1281]

Loving it ... can’t wait to see them fully in ...

[@mojojojo218]

Good luck to all involved... play hard ... play smart ... and be injury free !

[@julianalderson6996]

That was great, cheers tana an all the players, done so much for nz rugby so good see you come together as a side .

[@rastamonvibrationyeah3238]

Its about time we have a Poly team that can represent all of our Islands and all of our peoples .

[@holdthephoneblocker]

Pacific Island team*

[@rastamonvibrationyeah3238]

@@holdthephoneblocker full of Polynesians hahaha whats the dif ?

[@whitefire06]

@@rastamonvibrationyeah3238 Pacific ocean is bigger than Polynesia. For example, Fiji is not actually part of Polynesia. Polynesia, Micronesia, Melanesia make up the Pacific Islands I think.

[@iam_fetiboi7175]

🗣Facts

[@teokotaicarnahan2766]

@@whitefire06 wrong. Learn your tùpuna history

[@mStanlee11]

Leessssgo. Manuia boys. Good luck to both teams.

[@elchaposione5808]

Woooow. As a poly I felt that! Can’t put it in words but to say I’m proud of this team is an understatement! Hope they can mesh well together and put on a display so this won’t be the last time seeing this movement!

[@dariankrieger4813]

Beautiful, peaceful in unity 😢

[@SBW_85]

Manuia a outou tapenaga, all the best brothers!

[@mikescudder4621]

Looking forward to this game more than last week's game!!

[@jimminjimmygreig3390]

PROUD!!!!!!!

[@littlegiant9131]

Lets go boys. Pasifika Power.

[@peterofinau2865]

Do us proud brothers

[@reondekock9932]

2022 Super Rugby here you go!

[@mnn6314]

Beautiful

[@garnettenawin8338]

beautiful beautiful culture

[@calebsavage5321]

Can Māori be part of the team we Pasifika too haha 😄 much Love to the breethas it's about time exciting for the game

[@cookiestephen6431]

Good Luck Boys.

[@xleiloh9502]

Brothers vs brothers let’s go Māori’s and the island boys 🤙🏼

[@quickissme]

Ataahua beautiful.

[@luisatoomata1772]

For future generations to come

[@careymokomoko110]

Finally got some vids about the moana pasifika

[@xoxo98808]

God bless you all

[@tweetybird9944]

Ataahua👌🏾👍🏾

[@periseiupeli5517]

Viia Le Alii❤️🙏🏽😭🥰

[@toolui1283]

Let's go boy's

[@fu8713]

Tana. Ice. Eroni. Bryan Williams Doesn't get any bigger than that Ops! And Inga just saw the big fulla their fuuuuhuu.. LEGENDS ✊✊

[@donnybrascocoliogne819]

Amazing game lastnight Pasefika brothers. So proud to see a POLYNESIAN TEAM finally been put together n show the FLARE we have to offer. IRB Board, what else do our people have to do and prove to have a PASEFIKA team in every year competitions? British Lions.... So there should be MOANA PASEFIKA. We can match any one because we have the Pacific Warrior Blood that never backs away from any challenge{s}. Well done to our Maori cousins too for giving our Poly brothers a great game. Hope that our MOANA PASEFIKA team carries on n not just a 1 off every 5 year event. Welldone to both teams lastnight, o.4.owesum game, to the Ref...Hmmmmmmm some of those DODGY calls you made aye braaah..."FASI DA REF STYLEZ"...lol.

[@kingz6649]

lovely insight on our culture

[@guesswho6925]

Nz and the culture of nz has given theses men the opportunity! They will no doubt express that on the field against the Maori! Still the day we can see a pakeha team take the field would mean true peace but most even reacting to these words with anger are the reason that’ll never happen!

[@whitefire06]

To me, the significance of this team and this game is not just about being from NZ and recognising heritage from somewhere else while only recognising the Pacific Islands. Aotearoa is part of the Pacific. The common origins, history, culture etc between Maori, Samoans, Tongans, Fijians, Cook Islanders, even Hawaiians etc runs deeper than that. They are all extended family and it's nice to have that recognised within rugby in NZ. In saying that, if another team was added I wouldn't mind. Maybe not a "Pakeha" team specifically but a team that recognises cultures outside the Pacific.

[@whitefire06]

@@lloydmcgee3030 To me it's not a racial thing but more the underlying purpose of the team. The traditional "pakeha" teams you mentioned already have many pro teams to develop their talent. If there was a "pakeha" team in NZ, who are they being developed for? NZ and Australia already have enough teams for their talent. There could be a case for a team for Euro countries like Germany, Spain, Russia etc but they'd be better off playing in a Euro comp. An predominantly Asian team could be made but I don't know if the talent pool is there or whether it makes sense for them to be in Super Rugby. Same with North/South American team. I'm not against other teams but it still has to be sensible.

[@whitefire06]

@@lloydmcgee3030 I do think that the Pacific Islands are a special case though. There are probably Pacific Island players in every international team except South Africa. Pacific Islanders who want to be pro players are forced overseas. Many clubs preventing them from representing their home nation. Then those that do, are paying expenses themselves to play. When careers are short, it's no wonder you see these players opt for much higher paying nations. This team (along with Drua) will hopefully help with that. Hopefully, each PI nation will have their own team like the Drua but for now, Moana is a significant step in that direction.

[@Jase-so2tm]

Finally boys!! You will never no how important this is until you have lived and breathed the island life.

[@jbrown8059]

Sir Brian Williams was in tears

[@JustLiftUce]

Can take us off the rock but you can't the island out of our hearts

[@niueanlaho]

This is gonna be Awesome , The Haka challenge is gonna be Awesome........Just Awesome....

[@robjohnwaite4504]

Good luck brothers

[@ZimruinZ]

ALL Heart - Precious!

[@lj9697]

Yeh the boys

[@SupremClasDevastator]

Im awaiting a haka faceoff

[@magdolnamarko5716]

Wunderschone Welt...

[@romeonaura6246]

Dammm i just cried

[@greylynnjr]

Lessgo

[@b2bkiwistyle291]

Go the Maori ABs

[@TravelingTribe685]

WOW! I LIKE MUCH ❤

[@kmac7854]

Don’t maori come under the word pasifika as well as they come from Polynesia too

[@hainisuafa8049]

We. All. Different. Nations. We. Are. All. Different. Languages.

[@ronjeremy6128]

I heard someone say that Umaga is the most unfortunate looking male she'd ever seen but what is beauty really.

[@manawanuiturner2146]

Aotearoa and hawaii tahiti connected by the ocean Samoa Tonga Niue tokelau to

[@joey69323]

🇫🇯🇹🇴🇼🇸🇳🇿 ❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@rustreamin4210]

Mean

[@hamoxchubz5437]

Doesnt matter who wins it matters bout embracing our cultures #PolyCommuntiy CHEHOOOOO

[@hainisuafa8049]

We. Are. I. Means

[@brendonwilson3830]

They should be letting Maoris play within Moana pacific and face outter teams such as Australlia , england etc. Poly power 💯

[@levihawkins6211]

mean but lets go maoris

[@Sindisile]

Whats the name of the drink? anyone knwo?

[@emosijougavule2561]

kava...sorry for late response

[@fear_the_lord1595]

We need a world cup team 🤞❤️

[@francois9747]

You do. It's called Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji.

[@fear_the_lord1595]

@@francois9747 lol I mean a world cup team where we're all in one team ,. 🤞😉 Or at least they should change the rules so players that aren't playing for the all blacks or wallabies etc can play for there mother land ., So many good players missing out

[@francois9747]

@@fear_the_lord1595 Yeah but it would defeat the purpose of a worldcup. If there's a Pacific team, it just wouldn't make sense. A world cup should be a competition of countries. It wouldn't make sense if Moana Pasifika was in it because then what would happen if they were in the same pool as a Pacific Island country? Or what if they got the British Lions to compete in the world cup? The players from the islands play for Australia and NZ because they were born there, and they pay more money.

[@fear_the_lord1595]

@@francois9747 lol they play for the all blacks and the wallabies because if you play in the super rugby the rules are they get first pick . But when players leave for Europe , e.g sopoaga , piatau , feketoa etc ,. You can't play for your mother land because of eligibility rules ., And I know it would defeat the purpose of a world cup lol ,. It's just what I would like to see because I know they would give any country a run for there money .

[@francois9747]

@@fear_the_lord1595 Well then they should make the Moana Pasifika team tour rather than compete in a world cup. It just makes 0 sense for them to be in the world cup. That's like getting the Barbarians to play in the World Cup. World Cup is for nations. Moana Pasifika isn't ready for that either, they still need a lot of work and more time to play together and bond.

[@Unknown-uk3kg]

put rupeni on the wing

[@zzeedstun7151]

Whats this about?

[@fu8713]

Pee knuckle

[@zzeedstun7151]

@@fu8713 bruh this is a serious question

[@trellybo1t]

This is a piece about the Moana Pasifika team who are playing against the NZ Maori team tonight

[@zzeedstun7151]

@@trellybo1t thanks brother we need more people like you in this world i dont follow rugby but iam starting to like it

[@trellybo1t]

@@zzeedstun7151 no worries.. where are you from? Which sports do you follow?

[@hainisuafa8049]

But. We. Connect. In. English. Language. Each. Others.

[@poetixt9960]

Everyone there wouldn't be there if they were in the all blacks!

[@fijianfalaa28]

Get players from the PACIFIC. not Auckland based players 🤦‍♂️🤣 better call this team AUCKLAND DEVELOPMENT team 2.🤣🤣🤣

[@mikemugweru1963]

Whats up with Tana Umaga's eyes? The eyebags are too heavy and big now. Coach please stop smoking and get some sleep.

[@kikia6611]

One of the most inspirational people in NZ. He looks fine, but people need to stop getting caught up on outside appearances anyway. The true spirit is on the inside.

[@justinatuimavave]

Umaga was created by God. N hes look good.- pls better look at yourself.

[@b2bkiwistyle291]

Shh fia kagi, kefe kasi ku'i alu moe

[@lbradshaw6817]

@@b2bkiwistyle291 sole 🤣

[@calebsavage5321]

Hahaha old honest guy 😂