'Put a stop to it': Moana Pasifika's best player reportedly poached by Crusaders
In-form Moana Pasifika centre Levi Aumu has reportedly been signed by the Crusaders for 2024 after he was pursued by multiple teams.
Former All Black wing John Kirwan revealed on Sky Sport NZ’s The Breakdown that after being chased by Eddie Jones and the Wallabies, the Blues, Aumua has settled on the Crusaders.
“Three times I’ve heard this,” Kirwan told Sky Sport’s The Breakdown.
“I’ve heard that Eddie Jones has been chasing Levi Aumua.
“I heard the Blues have been chasing Levi Aumua … and I’ve heard the Crusaders have won that chase.”
“I’ve heard from a very, very, very good source that he is going to the Crusaders and he is on an NZR contract.”
The transfer news comes after Aumua leads the competition in tackle busts and line breaks on the back of a stellar season for the bottom-placed Moana Pasifika.
Although the signing has left a sour taste for some with Aumua in line to become an All Black having aligned with a New Zealand franchise.
The deal would also weaken the Moana team who will lose their best player after a winless season so far in 2023.
“Let’s put it straight on the table, Moana Pasifika should survive and make sure we keep this going,” Kirwan stated.
“But how can someone like Aumua then get an NZR contract? I don’t understand that.
“What were the goals for Moana this year? It was to create more pathways for Pasifika [players], more people from Samoa and Tonga getting opportunity.
“I always thought that when he was showing form that he would be picked for Samoa or Tonga.
“What am I missing?”
Former All Black winger Jeff Wilson clarified that multiple options were always on the table for Aumua and he has the right to choose what is best for him.
The New Zealand-born centre completed his schooling in Australia where he played for Brisbane Grammar School.
With Samoan and Fijian heritage, Aumua had up to four nations he could have sworn allegiance too.
“He was also eligible to play for the All Blacks, and was also eligible to play for the Wallabies,” Wilson said.
“He hadn’t made a decision and committed to any of those organisations or countries.
“He was looking after his future and has now decided he wants to be an All Black.
“I understand it must be incredibly frustrating for Moana Pasifika because you have helped develop him and given him that opportunity to play.
Ex-All Black and former Crusader Israel Dagg was in disbelief at the reported transfer and called on NZR to prevent any future poaching of Moana Pasifika players.
“The Levi Aumua situation … I can’t believe it’s happening,” Israel Dagg told SENZ Breakfast.
“New Zealand Rugby surely would have seen this coming and have to put some roadblocks in place otherwise it’s going to continue to happen.
“What about the next best thing that comes out from the Islands and they’re playing for Moana Pasifika and these five franchises come on and go, ‘Wow, we want that player’.
“This player will have a lot of confidence, or he’ll want to make that decision to go and play for these teams, but New Zealand Rugby have to put a stop to it.
“Otherwise it’s just going to deplete them and then what’s the point of having Moana Pasifika in the competition if they’re depleted?”
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
2 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments