There's something off about a Moana Pasifika MVP playing for the All Blacks XV

Levi Aumua’s inclusion in the All Blacks XV has answered one question that’s been festering since Moana Pasifika were announced as the side to represent the Pacific Islands in Super Rugby.

While 80 per cent of the Moana Pasifika side have to be eligible to play for either Samoa, Tonga or Fiji, there’s evidently no requirement that players who represent Moana Pasifika must commit to playing their Test rugby for those island nations.

Make no mistake, if Aumua hadn’t been selected for Moana Pasifika this year, he would not have been under consideration for the All Blacks XV.

Aumua has had two previous stints in Super Rugby for the Chiefs and Blues and at 28 years old, has ample provincial experience under his belt – but he hadn’t kicked on. It was with Moana Pasifika that the New Zealand-born utility back really came to life, smashing his way through defenders and dominating his opposition on a weekly basis. Whether it was finally getting the opportunity for regular playing minutes or simply being in a squad that brought the best out of him, it was Aumua’s six-month stint with Moana during Super Rugby Pacific that has kick-started his career – and now it appears that the All Blacks could be the benefactors.

Aumua is eligible to play for NZ, Samoa and Fiji and spent much of his formative years in Australia, but it’s the nation that has the most rugby resources at its disposal that looks set to profit from the 28-year-old’s sudden uptake in form.

There were concerns that Moana Pasifika could become just another factory for producing NZ talent and while it’s clear that both Samoa and Tonga have benefitted hugely from the new side’s introduction to Super Rugby – close to 30 Moana Pasifika representatives will feature for the two nations on their respective end-of-year tours – Aumua’s selection for the All Blacks XV will have still raised a few eyebrows.

Aumua’s eligibility won’t be captured by playing for the second-tier NZ side because New Zealand Rugby have intentionally avoided designating the All Blacks XV as their ‘next senior fifteen-a-side National Representative Team’ – as confirmed to RugbyPass by World Rugby. That means Aumua could still decide to play for Samoa or Fiji in the future.

However, All Blacks coach Ian Foster evidently believes Aumua could feature for the New Zealand national side in the coming years, ergo his selection in the back-up squad.

Aumua is still contracted to Moana Pasifika for the 2023 season – a side that’s supposed to produce and develop talent for the islands – but could still make his Test debut playing for NZ next year.

Technically speaking, there’s nothing wrong with Aumua getting selected in the All Blacks XV – but there’s also something not quite right about it.

You can understand why Foster might be interested in the 6-foot-1, 118kg powerhouse of a midfielder; the All Blacks really don’t have anyone of a similar mould at their disposal. Rieko Ioane has started every single match in the No 13 jersey this year and while he’s not a small fry by any stretch of the imagination, he’s not a power centre either. Ioane is much more likely to run around his opposition than through them and is still learning the art of distribution having shifted in-field from the wing. While Aumua isn’t the finished product either, he boats a wicked offload and if he’s able to attract a few defenders while on the charge and is then able to keep the ball alive post-contact, he could open up a few holes in the watertight defences categorising world rugby at present.

New Zealand Rugby shouldn’t want a situation to develop where players contract with Moana Pasifika because it’s their only option for at the time, only for those very same players to then head to other franchises as soon as the All Blacks come knocking.

The Pacific Island unions certainly won’t want that – and it’s undoubtedly one of the reasons why they’ve discussed the possibility of Moana Pasifika capturing players’ international allegiance.

That’s perhaps unlikely to ever eventuate but it’s an idea worth exploring. After all, the last thing the rugby world wants to see is Moana Pasifika player holding off committing to Samoa or Tonga just so that they can eventually earn a few caps for New Zealand.