Newly crowned NPC champion coach Alando Soakai is set to reach a new milestone, after signing with Moana Pasifika for the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season and beyond.
Less than a week on from winning the NPC title in his debut season as Wellington Lions Head Coach, Soakai is now celebrating his first Super Rugby coaching assignment, joining Moana Pasifika as Defence Coach under Tana Umaga.
It marks the start of a new journey for the 41-year-old who enjoyed a highly decorated playing career that included stints with the Highlanders and All Blacks Sevens, before he moved into coaching less than 10 years ago.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time with Wellington over the last two seasons but I’m also really excited about the challenge of coaching in Super Rugby with Moana Pasifika,” Soakai said.
“It will be a huge honour to coach in that competition with a team that means so much to my proud Tongan family and the wider Pacific region.”
Soakai joins an illustrious coaching group that consists of Umaga (Head Coach), Stephen Jones (Backs Coach), Tom Coventry (Forwards Coach) and Pauliasi Manu (Scrum Coach) with two more to be announced.
“Alando is an awesome addition to our staff,” said Umaga. “He brings a different perspective given his successful experiences overseas in Japan and recently with Wellington. This is coupled with a real passion for our people which really stood out for me.
“The way he has worked away at his craft has really impressed me and I’m looking forward to what he will bring to the Moana team.”
Soakai added: “I saw the growth in Moana last season and was fortunate to spend a week with Tana and the coaches. I was excited by what I saw and the potential growth. I’m really looking forward to contributing with my knowledge and experience. It’s also really exciting to work with a squad that is filled with so much potential.
“My wife and four kids have spent a long time living with me overseas due to my rugby commitments and so to be based closer to home in Auckland is a real blessing for all of us. It feels more like a home coming.”
Born in Auckland to Tongan parents, Soakai attended Auckland Grammar before moving to Dunedin to study at the University of Otago. The openside flanker made his first class rugby debut while on loan to Southland in 2004, before playing for Otago from 2005 to 2010.
He played over 50 games for the Highlanders between 2007-2011 and represented the Junior All Blacks alongside players such as Israel Dagg, Hosea Gear, Sione Lauaki and Victor Vito. In 2006 he won a Commonwealth Games gold medal with the All Blacks Sevens in Melbourne, alongside the likes of Cory Jane, Liam Messam and Tamati Ellison.
In 2011, Soakai joined Kubota Spears in Japan spending the next 12 years at the club as both a player and a coach. As an assistant under head coach Frans Ludeke, Soakai mentored a number of the world’s top players including Duane Vermeulen, Malcom Marx, Bernard Foley and Ryan Crotty. His time there culminated with the Kubota Spears claiming their first ever League One Championship in 2022-23 season.
In 2022 he also coached the Japan National Development Squad, before coming back to New Zealand to take up a job as an assistant with the Wellington Lions a year later.
In 2024 he was promoted to head coach, a role that was vacated when Tamati Ellison joined the All Blacks coaching setup.
ENDS
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