Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has said work to ensure Moana Pasifika's survival remains ongoing, though no agreement has been reached to keep the franchise operating.
New Zealand Rugby has imposed a deadline of the end of June for interested parties to present a workable proposal for the team's 2026 season.
Peters has held talks with Pacific governments and others who might support the franchise. "I have nothing new to report, if we don't make it this year, we can still probably make it next year, that is the optimism we have, but sadly I can't report anything new," he said.
Speculation about a possible United States-based investor had emerged, though no agreement came to fruition. New Zealand Rugby has received approaches from parties seeking to assume control of the licence, among them the Kanaloa Consortium, a group that features ex-All Blacks of Pasifika descent and had pursued a Super Rugby Pacific licence in 2020 without success. A proposal for government investment from Samoa and Tonga also surfaced in reports.
Peters said the compressed timeframe presented difficulties. "We are still working on things and trying to get a clear understanding of what's involved. It's eleventh hour, 59th minute sort of stuff, we haven't given up. I just wish we had three months to sort this and not three weeks," he said. "I have spoken to people offshore, the problem is the speed of requirement to make a decision when rugby has a set programme of announcements as to what the playing agenda will be next year."