A Moana Pasifika men's side will play in 2022 Super Rugby, but a strong, passionate team of Pasifika women have already stamped their mark on the game.
A year ago, Tysha Ikenasio and Mele Hufanga were on very different paths.
Ikenasio was playing professional rugby in Japan, where she'd been for five years. Hufanga was in Auckland, playing club rugby for Marist, and preparing for another Farah Palmer Cup season.
Then suddenly their paths crossed, at a meeting point neither woman expected to experience in their careers.
Neither would’ve pictured themselves running alongside each other in Wellington in the very first Moana Pasifika women’s sevens team.
Or that they would co-captain a bunch of young women, brought together in just two weeks, to play sevens against the world champion Black Ferns sevens and an invitational side from the Black Ferns 15 squad.
But a love for the sport, the thrill of a challenge to go up against the best, and the people they represent brought them together for a momentous occasion.
The Moana Pasifika women’s team was created for the one-off Takiwhitu Tūturu sevens tournament in Wellington in April, but Ikenasio and Hufanga took a lot more from the two-day experience.
Both women acknowledged the power of shared cultures and values of Moana Pasifika on the players and management.
“We only had two weeks together but the culture that was built around it was just so strong, and it was different to other teams I had been in,” says Ikenasio. “The Japanese run it quite differently and it was different from any team in New Zealand. And I think that’s where they can gain from it.
“It's such a strong culture and they go back to your ancestors and your past. It’s actually quite deep, and it really does feel quite deep in your heart when you talk about it.”
The Moana Pasifika men's team have been given a conditional licence to enter the 2022 Super Rugby competition. And if a women's side was given the chance to put their skills and character to good use again, both women would gladly put their hands up.
“I think if they can build a 15s or sevens competition and get Moana Pasifika running for women, I think they'd create an awesome culture," Ikenasio says. "I think they'd be surprised how many Pasifika girls from everywhere would actually come into it because of how much culture means to a lot of people.”
Inspiration also came from comedian and actor Tofiga Fepulea’i and passionate Pacific educator Ala’imalo Falefatu Enari, which helped strengthen the team's bond.
Each player was also given a mealofa (gift), designed and made especially for them, to honour their contribution to the team by Moana artist Iokapeta Magele-Suamasi.
Initially both Hufanga and Ikenasio had reservations about playing. Hufanga was worried about fitness levels, as she hadn’t played sevens in a while, and whether she would know any other teammates.
“I'm an environment person. So if the vibe is cool, if the environment is good, that’s when I can perform to the best of my abilities,” she says. Hufanga holds the record for most tries scored - 16 - in a domestic competition and has played for both Auckland and Counties Manukau in the Farah Palmer Cup. She's also represented Tonga in rugby league.
“As soon as I turned up to training it was cool - we got along with everyone, we all clicked straight away.”
Ikenasio was a little nervous going in for other reasons. “Because I haven’t grown up on my Pasifika side that much, I was kind of nervous about that,” she says.
“But like Mele said, once we got together and had a few training sessions under our belt, we all just clicked, everyone was just so lovely. We all shared that similarity and passion for the sport, or for our Pasifika nations.”
Being named co-captains was another special moment for the pair. “When I knew it was with Mele, I knew she would definitely step up,” says Ikenasio. “Because Mele is really good with team culture and bringing the team together so I knew she had that under control.
“I knew ‘Okay, I can do it on the field’, and Mele’s got all the off-field stuff and we bonded really well through that.”
The duo will now play against each other on the league field this Sunday when Ikenasio’s Richmond Roses take on Hufanga’s Ponsonby Ponies side in the Auckland women's competition.
Both believe the team came together so well because they were “a good bunch of girls at heart”. Once they were in Wellington, the team went around in a circle and shared who they were and where they were from.
“The first few speeches were all in different languages. So I was absolutely scared to speak because I couldn’t speak Māori, Tongan or Samoan," says Ikenasio. "So I was just standing there, like ‘OMG I'm next’, so I spoke in Japanese.
“So everyone had their own little bit to offer, and I think once everyone offered their own little piece of who they were, that’s how we connected.”
It was always going to be a hard task going up against professional and semi-professional athletes in the Black Ferns teams. But Moana Pasifika managed to upset the Black Ferns Invitational side in their first outing, 24-19.
For Hufanga, the victory confirmed what she already knew about thriving in a strong, culturally-driven team environment. “I think for me, it was low key massive to beat those 15s, only because I knew some of the girls there,” says the 26-year-old.
“In the build-up, we had guest speakers who talked about our ancestors and all our families, so it just meant so much more to beat them.
“It just shows it doesn’t matter who you are or what team you represent, if you bring that mana and heart, it's all that matters.”
Ikenasio admits she was “pretty shocked” because she wasn’t keeping track of the score throughout the game.
“When you're within the New Zealand environment you can see actually how much resources and stuff they have. On the flip side, we did our warm-ups and training in our own gear,” says Ikenasio, who's spent time in the Black Ferns sevens development squad (Hufanga has also been involved in the Black Ferns environment).
“Our team gear didn’t arrive until that morning. But it didn’t bother us, we were just all there for each other; the gears are all just the looks of it anyway.
“So when we got out there and beat them, it was just like ‘Man, how awesome’. I was just so happy for the girls because we deserved it."
Bottling that feeling and the experiences to take into their communities is natural for Hufunga and Ikenasio.
Hufanga is using sport to build her legacy off the field. She started Beastmode Fitness with her brother Patrick last year - it’s a boot camp style six-week fitness challenge. They’ve just finished the second edition which had over 100 people. She also works with youth in schools.
“I know that I’ve got a lot on my plate but just giving back to the community means a lot. I just don’t want to be known as a rugby player, I really want to do something outside of rugby as well,” she says.
“It motivates me to not only work on myself but also work on other people as well. Just use my experience in rugby, the values, the culture, that I've learned in my career especially at Marist, to bring that into the challenges as well.” She also captains the east Auckland women’s side.
A personal motivator for Beastmode Fitness is Hufanga’s mother who has type two diabetes. Being able to help with health and fitness goals and share similar stories with people involved in the challenges has been rewarding for the siblings.
Ikenasio returned to New Zealand late last year because of Covid-19 and decided to stay on to try and contribute to communities by getting into the New Zealand police.
After finishing secondary school in 2015, Ikenasio wasn’t completely sure what to do next. Sport was a pathway for her to explore options and she ended up taking a sevens contract in Japan straight from school.
“When I got the opportunity to go to Japan, I kind of just thought, ‘Stuff it, why not just go and see what it's about’,” Ikenasio, 23, says. She also represented New Zealand in the open women’s touch team at the 2015 World Cup in Australia.
“I really did fall in love with everything in Japan - the country, the people, the way they play rugby, the passion that they have. It just took me on my own little journey and I ended up really enjoying playing sevens over there.”
While her route was not the usual one, Ikenasio would still encourage young girls to consider following it.
“I think you learn a lot about rugby, but also learn a lot about yourself,” says Ikenasio. “How you can develop without your family and friends close by and how you create a second home and a second family.
“There’s not only one path, you don’t have to stay in New Zealand to develop your rugby. You can go overseas and maybe come back and give it another shot.”
