The Swire Shipping Fijian Drua, Fiji’s Super Rugby Pacific franchise, has signed experienced Nadroga forward and Flying Fijian Manueli Ratuniyarawa to its main squad for the 2027 Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific season, FBC News reported on 29 September 2026, publishing a photograph of him at the Drua base in Nadi after signing.
On the same day, RNZ Pacific reported that the club has been cutting expenses and has put a planned capital raise on hold while the future shape of the competition is debated.
Key facts
- The Drua will host eight home games next season and open against the Highlanders on 13 February 2027, RNZ Pacific reported.
- Super Rugby Pacific drops from 11 teams to 10 for 2027 after a lack of cash flow forced the end of Moana Pasifika following this year’s season, according to RNZ Pacific.
- World Rugby funding for the Drua finished at the end of June 2026 — an outcome CEO Jeff Miller described as anticipated.
- The franchise has two shareholders: the Fiji government with 51 percent and the Fiji Rugby Union with 49 percent, RNZ Pacific reported.
- The Australian government will provide “bridging funding” under the Vuvale Union Treaty which, together with lower ongoing expenses, Miller said should carry the club through 2027 and 2028.
- Ratuniyarawa, a former police officer and Queen Victoria School student from Korotogo village in Nadroga, is the first player from that village to sign with the Drua, FBC News reported.
Why it matters
The two reports land together: a homegrown forward getting his first professional contract, and the franchise that signed him warning about its own finances. The contrast matters because the Drua is the top rung of Fiji’s professional pathway — the place where players from the domestic competition, like Ratuniyarawa, convert provincial form into a salary and a route back into the national side.
Miller told RNZ Pacific the Drua had contributed significantly to the Flying Fijians’ climb in the World Rugby rankings, boosted Fiji’s economic growth through sports tourism and become one of the most powerful brands in the Pacific. That on-field return is not confined to the men’s professional side: the Fiji Rugby Union, which holds the Drua’s other 49 percent, has just watched the Fijiana XV won the WXV Global Series Challenger title in Hong Kong — results that, on Miller’s own argument, are the dividend the funding now under question helps pay for.
The signing
FBC News says Ratuniyarawa is from Korotogo village in Nadroga and was the first from his village to feature for the Flying Fijians, in 2020. He is now the first from Korotogo to sign with the Drua. The signing marks a step up to professional rugby for the former police officer, who has spent several seasons with the Stallions in Fiji’s domestic competition.
He earned a place in the Flying Fijians squad for the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup in Europe and made his Test debut off the bench against Georgia at Murrayfield, a match Fiji won 38–24, according to FBC News, which also reports he was selected that year for the World Barbarian XV side that faced England. Before moving into international 15s he was part of the Fijian Men’s 7s programme in 2018 and 2019.
The former Queen Victoria School student recently played for Rugby Club Batumi, helping that side claim the 2025/26 Georgia Didi 10 Premier competition title, FBC News reported. His route — domestic province, 7s programme, Test call-up, then a Drua contract — is the same one currently being walked in reverse order by others in the Fijian game; earlier this month Naitasiri’s Rokotuisawa earned a maiden Flying Fijians call-up out of the same domestic competition.
The finances
The Drua began an expense reduction plan this year to keep the franchise financially viable and sustainable, Miller told RNZ Pacific, and said all 10 Super Rugby Pacific clubs face the same financial issues. “As with virtually all Super Rugby Clubs we are not immune from the financial challenges that we all face,” he said in written answers to the broadcaster. The Drua’s position is compounded by the end of World Rugby funding at the end of June 2026, which he said had been anticipated.
He said the club has had support from the Australian government, continued backing from the Fiji government and the Fiji Rugby Union, and corporate sponsors led by Fiji Airways. The Australian government would provide some “bridging funding” through the Vuvale Union Treaty, Miller said, giving the franchise time to develop other revenue streams; with that funding and lower ongoing expenses, he said the club should have enough to get through 2027 and 2028.
On the economic case for the franchise, Miller pointed to sports tourism and to the money matches bring into host towns, saying that staging games around Suva, Lautoka and Ba in previous seasons had helped generate income for the local economy. Neither his written answers as published by RNZ Pacific nor the report itself attaches a figure to that claim — no sponsorship value, gate revenue, visitor-spend or attendance number is disclosed — so the scale of the Drua’s contribution to Fiji’s economy remains an assertion by the club rather than a published number.
The squeeze is not unique to the Drua. Elsewhere in the region, Oceania Rugby cancelled its Rotorua 7s Cup weeks out over a funding gap, and RNZ Pacific reported that Moana Pasifika — the competition’s other Pacific side — folded after this season for lack of cash flow, taking Super Rugby Pacific down to 10 teams.
What RNZ Pacific’s sources say
RNZ Pacific reported it understands that continuing high expenses, including player contracts, had started to eat into the franchise’s financial base. A source close to the issue told the broadcaster that talks between the shareholders and the franchise over the past two years showed a real need for the Drua to be “bailed” financially so it could keep operating, saying expenses were outstripping the club’s assets and revenue.
That source said the Drua proposed selling some shares to attract new investment. Miller confirmed there had been discussions with the shareholders in the past, but said any share sale would have to wait.
The competition question
New Zealand Rugby hosted a summit last week in Wellington with its stakeholders, RNZ Pacific reported, with provincial unions reportedly keen to discuss both Super Rugby and the National Provincial Championship. Options reportedly canvassed included merging Super Rugby franchises with local NPC clubs, scrapping Super Rugby altogether, leaving the competition as it is, or adding two more franchises.
Miller said the capital raise would be re-ignited once New Zealand Rugby provides certainty that Super Rugby Pacific will continue and that the Drua, as a perpetual licence holder, will keep playing in it. He said he was supportive of some of the initiatives being investigated by the Super Rugby clubs and accepted that change was needed for the competition’s financial sustainability, calling Super Rugby Pacific one of the best things to happen to Fiji in a very long time. He said it would be extremely disappointing if Pacific teams were dropped, but that other opportunities would open up.
What happens next
The two strands now run on the same clock. Ratuniyarawa reports into a squad whose season, per RNZ Pacific, opens against the Highlanders on 13 February 2027 — inside the two-year window Miller says the bridging funding and the expense cuts are meant to cover. Whether the Drua can move past that stop-gap depends less on recruitment than on New Zealand Rugby: until it settles the competition’s shape and confirms the Drua’s place in it, the share sale that the franchise’s own proposal treated as its route to new capital stays frozen.
The two reports do not overlap: the RNZ Pacific piece does not mention Ratuniyarawa’s signing, and the FBC News report does not address the franchise’s finances. Read together, they describe a club still buying in talent from the Fijian provinces while asking its shareholders and governments to underwrite the cost of fielding it.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the Fijian Drua’s 2027 season start?
RNZ Pacific reports the Drua will host eight home games in Super Rugby Pacific next season, opening against the Highlanders on 13 February 2027.
Who owns the Fijian Drua?
According to RNZ Pacific, the franchise has two shareholders: the Fiji government with 51 percent and the Fiji Rugby Union with 49 percent. RNZ Pacific understands the club had begun discussions with both about selling some shares to new investors.
Why has the Drua put its capital raise on hold?
CEO Jeff Miller told RNZ Pacific the share sale will only be re-ignited once New Zealand Rugby gives certainty that Super Rugby Pacific will continue and that the Drua, as a perpetual licence holder, will keep playing in it. New Zealand Rugby held a stakeholders’ summit in Wellington last week at which, RNZ Pacific reported, options from scrapping Super Rugby to adding two franchises were canvassed.
How is the Drua funding itself now that World Rugby support has ended?
Miller told RNZ Pacific that World Rugby funding finished at the end of June 2026, and that the club is relying on an expense reduction plan, continued backing from the Fiji government and the Fiji Rugby Union, corporate sponsors led by Fiji Airways, and "bridging funding" from the Australian government under the Vuvale Union Treaty. He said that combination should be enough to get the franchise through 2027 and 2028. Neither Miller’s written answers nor the RNZ Pacific report put a dollar figure on any of those sources.
Has Manueli Ratuniyarawa played Test rugby for Fiji?
Yes. FBC News reports he earned a place in the Flying Fijians squad for the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup in Europe and made his Test debut off the bench against Georgia at Murrayfield, a match Fiji won 38–24. He was also selected that year for the World Barbarian XV side that faced England.
Where do Drua players play outside Super Rugby Pacific?
Drua CEO Jeff Miller told RNZ Pacific that a number of players turn out in the Brisbane and Sydney club competitions in Australia and in New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship. He said those competitions are extremely important for player development, and thanked New Zealand Rugby, Rugby Australia and individual clubs for the opportunity.
