‘Ignites a fire within myself’: Ardie Savea defends Moana Pasifika switch
Former Hurricanes backrower Ardie Savea has doubled down on his decision to sign with Moana Pasifika for 2025 and beyond amid some criticism of what the move might mean for the All Blacks vice-captain at Test level.
As reported by The New Zealand Herald late last week, Savea was close to inking a deal with New Zealand Rugby through till the 2027 Rugby World Cup which was set to see the loose forward don a new club’s kit in Super Rugby Pacific.
The rumour mill has been in full swing over recent weeks with Savea having been linked to Auckland-based Moana Pasifika. There were also murmurs that Vaea Fifita would be heading to the same team but the former All Black has decided to stay in Wales.
Savea, 30, released a video on social media on Sunday to confirm the move. Moana Pasifika, the Hurricanes and New Zealand Rugby all released statements as the rugby world came to terms with the blockbuster transfer.
But not everyone is “convinced” by the move. Former New Zealand wing turned popular pundit Sir John Kirwan has questioned on The Breakdown whether Savea’s decision will “help us as All Blacks” in the years to come.
The man himself has hit back by delving into the “great challenge” that awaits.
On The Morning Shift, Savea said: “It’s crazy you mentioned it because that’s one of the biggest discussion points that I’ve had in my journey and my process was, is Moana a good enough club for me in terms of high performance? Will I come out of the Moana season being a better player or a player that’s gone backwards?
“My heart and my belief is that it doesn’t matter what quality there is. (It’s about) the discipline and the standard within me. If I go there and think I’m going to relax, then I’m going to go backwards.
“I’m going to go there and I’m going to try and push myself, push my teammates, they’re going to push me.
“Who knows? I can never tell the future. I might turn up and not be a good All Black but I don’t think it’s because of Moana, it will be mainly for myself.
“That’s been one of the biggest risks of signing with Moana, according to some people, but that’s a great challenge and that’s something that ignites a fire within myself and I just see it as a disrespect to the Moana Pasifika team.
“For the brothers that are listening in the team, what an awesome motivation to hold. People, organisations telling you that I’m going to be a worse off player playing at Moana when I go to the All Blacks, that just riles me up because it’s doubting my people, it’s doubting the players in the team.”
Savea was expected to wear the iconic yellow jersey of the Hurricanes once again next season after completing a sabbatical in Japan with Kobe Steelers.
The 30-year-old has played more than 130 games for the club based out of the capital, and it was widely believed that he would bolster their already quality backrow stocks once again from the 2025 campaign.
But the reigning World Rugby 15s Player of the Year is excited about a new challenge, which could see him take the field alongside brother Julian once again.
“I’ve always believed in it but this one was even more special because of the announcement… just put my phone down, listen to my worship and just reflect on the journey, my career so far. It’s a huge blessing,” Savea reflected.
“People think I’m at the peak but I’m just getting started.
“I can’t wait till what God’s got in store for the future.”
In the club’s third season in Super Rugby Pacific, Moana Pasifika registered four wins from 14 matches. That might not seem like an outstanding campaign going off that alone but they showed genuine signs of promise and growth in 2024.
Moana got the better of Fijian Drua 39-36 in early March and later beat the Western Force in Perth, the Queensland Reds and NSW Waratahs. The Tana Umaga-coached side is improving and that’s exciting for fans in the Pacific region.
But Savea isn’t too focused on titles. Success, as the backrower defined it, is “just having influence and impact in people’s lives.”
“Success is that Moana is in a better place, in a better position than when I first came in.
“Success for me is if one of the brothers at Moana came up to me and just said, ‘Thank you for helping me in the journey. Thank you for helping me for my rugby.’ That’s a win for me.
“I don’t follow titles, I follow courage. I think that’s the biggest thing, just having influence and impact in people’s lives and at the same time I’ve grown and learned.”
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Schmidt took on too much the same as Eddie, but the difference is that he has capable assistant coaches while Eddie did not. At test level players should have the basics bedded down. If he was teaching players about ball placement and retention skills at the breakdown then how much time is he devoting on tactics. He will need four year to build a team and it’s just unfortunate that the Lions will be coming to town before his team is ready.
Go to commentsWallabies will lose because of the scrum and D in the centres. All decisions down to Joe Schmidt not knowing what he’s doing.
We have Sio playing well for Exeter last year and even Ainslei is scrummaging quite well for Lyon. Have them in with Thor and Bell starting and Latu at hooker and the scrum is no where near the problem it’s been. Also send Pone off to France to develop his scrummaging as he’s as good there as AA and Nongoorr who are both weak and a far better runner.
Similar at lock with Skelton, Arnolds, Philip and he’s not developed Amatosero who has bag fulls of potential.
Kerevi and Hodge in the centres with Hodge helping at 15. There are some other guys going around in France that are better than Paisami etc as well.
With them the team looks much better but dopey Joe isn’t picking them or paving the way for them to be involved for at least some tests.
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