New Zealand forward Ardie Savea says the opportunity to earn a significant payday was the main reason behind his decision to join Japan’s Kobelco Kobe Steelers after the Rugby World Cup this year.
Savea, who has played 70 times for the All Blacks, will lead the Wellington Hurricanes into the upcoming Super Rugby season and will make the move to Japan once the Rugby World Cup has been completed in France in October.
“Plain and simple – to set up my family. The money’s good, I’m not going to lie,” Savea said of his reason for the switch.
“It’s an opportunity to set up my family and also to try something new. It’s a bit of a challenge and hopefully it puts me on my toes.
(Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)
“Not that I’m not on my toes here, but there’s just something about going into a new environment and feeling young and being a rookie again.
“Hopefully that sparks something in me to keep going for a few more years.”
Savea is one of several high-profile All Blacks who will leave New Zealand to play in Japan, with Richie Mo’unga previously announcing he will join Tokyo-based Toshiba Brave Lupus with his All Blacks teammate Shannon Frizell.
Others are expected to follow upon the conclusion of the World Cup and Savea admitted he wanted to sign-off on the move as soon as possible to avoid missing out on the opportunity.
“To be honest, I just put the feelers out and whatever club came first that was interested I was just keen to get a signed deal,” said Savea.
“Obviously, it’s post-World Cup so there are so many players looking to go to Japan and international quotas would get filled up so I just wanted to get in early.”
Borthwick calls out fans
England just can’t quite escape the shadow of their old mentor Eddie Jones.
But new coach Steve Borthwick is urging England fans to throw their weight behind his quest to transform the team’s fortunes.
Just two months after Jones’ England were booed off the same pitch in reaction to their collapse against South Africa, Borthwick will take charge for the first time.
The discontent so clearly in the air at the conclusion of the Australian coach’s final match in charge contributed to his sacking, but the Six Nations offers a fresh start for England in World Cup year that Borthwick is determined to grab.
“The message I give to the supporters will be a pretty simple one in the sense that, in every single study I ever read, the impact of home support is worth more than any one player,” Borthwick said.
“So I ask them to be behind this team. This is the first step of the team. It’s the first step right now, in this next chapter of the England team.
“This is a group of players that care so much about the England rugby team. I know I do, so I ask them to get behind this team and lift this team, as they always do.
Eddie Jones with Steve Borthwick. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
“There will be mistakes on Saturday but I want the players fighting, the players getting to the next battle, the players bringing all the strengths they have into the England shirt.
“And I think that the players will show that fight and that determination. We want to make the supporters proud and want the players to be proud of the team. And we want that to start on Saturday.”
Scotland have taken a stranglehold on the Calcutta Cup since 2017, winning three of the five meetings and drawing another.
“I know there’s a lot of England supporters who will be disappointed by that. I can’t rewrite history, neither can the players. All we can do is influence what is going to happen in the future,” Borthwick said.
“What will Scotland bring this weekend? I don’t know. I’m going to concentrate on what we’re going to bring. We have good players ready to go this weekend.”
But just when Twickenham bosses thought they could get on with Saturday’s Six Nations Championship without any input from their former coach who’s now back in his green-and-gold element with the Wallabies, Jones has popped up to offer his prediction for his old team’s first game without him.
The good news for England fans? Jones, not sitting on the fence as usual in his new podcast titled EDDIE, reckons they’ll win their Calcutta Cup clash against Scotland on Saturday by three points, courtesy of a penalty from his former captain Owen Farrell.
So Jones, whose last outing at Twickenham before he got sacked by RFU chiefs in December ended in boos from fans unhappy about the turgid defeat by South Africa, fancies his successor Steve Borthwick will end up celebrating his first match in charge.
That will be more than Jones himself managed two years ago at the same venue when the Scots won for the first time at HQ for 38 years.
Steve Borthwick and Eddie Jones. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
But it seems Jones still remembers being burnt by the excellence of Finn Russell that day as he predicts the result will hinge on how the mercurial Scottish five-eighth performs.
“He (Russell) gives Scotland an outstanding chance to win,” Jones said.
“It also means that if England get on top, Scotland will probably get hammered because he will keep taking risks under pressure and will give England more opportunities to score.”
Of the game’s coaching battle between his former assistant Borthwick and Scotland’s Gregor Townsend, Jones added: “They are two very good coaches – Steve is methodical, Gregor more wants to do different things, wants to play the game differently.”
After the boos that became the soundtrack to the end of the Eddie Jones era in English rugby, new coach Steve Borthwick wants the cheers back at Twickenham.
For his part,
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Savea will miss ONE SR season. Hardly the end of the world. We wont miss Mounga and the others are replaceable easily enough.
Otago Man
Roar Rookie
Well Jacko, its not just Savea but Mo'unga and Frizell just as they are establishing themselves. The player that B Barrett came back as was not the same as that which left. Also Rettalick took a long time to come right as well.
Otago Man
Roar Rookie
It goes back to what I'm pushing, the ABs the be all end all. They play too many tests. At home it should be a 3/4 test series against a southern rival and a game against a pacific side and/or home nation.
Danny McGowan
Roar Rookie
Or that players health is more important, there no way ABs can play NPC it runs during test season, and I think you will find almost all teams at super level that have any care would rest players even that aren't test players. I think we have the balance pretty right, super early, club rugby april to August then NPC from September through Octobor. As I said NPC is played at end of season when everyone has a had a lot of rugby, but still seems a lot of interest up this way, not sure what you fellas down south are doing wrong.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Haha... So 15 Aus teams, 6 NZ teams and yet NZ supplies the majority of players eh. Dreams are free i guess. NZ has a NPC. Who cares what RA do.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
OM I think you are over dramatizing Savea having a sabbatical for a season and then being 100% available for NZ rugby. Its been happening for some time now and its actually keeping ABs at home rather than lose them for 3 years etc.
joseph Barham
Guest
New Zealand and Australian rugby are sinking together. We have to have a National Rugby competition ( 14 or 15 Australian teams and 6 Kiwi) with opening up/ free trade of player selection ( Hooper could play for Auckland. Ioane could play for Melbourne) Look at NRL and AFL. The blueprint is there. Super Rugby lost its lustre 10 years ago. I honestly believe this will happen, it's just a matter of when. Can we stop wasting time and do it soon. Kiwis will make up the majority of the players for the competition with Australia, Samoa, Fiji and Tonga making up the rest. You know it makes sense. Toyota give the AFL $18.5 million a year...for a game that's only played in Oz. There is population and interest, we just need the right competition.
Otago Man
Roar Rookie
I mean promoting the comp. They have player academies but they are part of the problem. They don't align to the provinces and after a couple of seasons these guys are off playing overseas often for not as much as you would expect. Crowds have shrunk and there is a real sense that is does not matter beyond a hardcore. As soon as they started ripping ABs out of the comp people got the message this was not important.
Danny McGowan
Roar Rookie
I not sure where you get idea that no development is put into domestic comp. I assume you mean in players etc, there actually alot done on Super academies(who then play NPC) and provinces have pretty good age grade stuff , well up this way they do. And as for noone caring? I not sure about with you fellas living in Otago (and didn't realise they did so little as you are saying as I don't reside there), but there is plenty of interest in most places in country, I know it's biggest problem is time of the year it played and we have had a lot of rugby by then, but still a relevant, and in most circles I mix in still creates a lot of interest. Top that off NZR have a pretty comprehensive list of up and comers they also keep a sharp eye on for development etc.
Otago Man
Roar Rookie
Eaton was a decent player but we had Brad Thorn and Tom Donnelly also James Ryan before he quit after that knee injury. The hope is that Holland will be that player for ten years. I'm not saying that we can compete at the top end wages but no development and interest has been put into the domestic competition. Fewer punters care about it which is really sad. If the comp was healthy and self sustaining by itself, meaning that it is an end in itself then a player like Savea leaving is no big deal but he is one the few actually star players in NZ. Less reason to bother putting your interest in.
Danny McGowan
Roar Rookie
Let's be honest, we forget how slim the pickings have been over the years, remember before Whitelock and retallic we had a test team with Jason Eaton and Isaac Ross as our test locks etc, I would suggest that even the back ups in Vaii, Lord, PPP are better players, we have Barrett as you correctly say and in Fabian Holland have one with the potential to be of quality and service of Whitelock, and he showing that at 19yo. I know we always losing players overseas to big money, it's not new but it's the world we live in, and with such big money to be made NZR have to target who they are going to pay the big bucks to. And I would say as someone who gaoes to quite a few tests (as well as super/NPC games) that it is probably harder to get tickets to to tests now than ever, you have to be quick to get decent tickets, a lot quicker than tests I went to 80s and 90s etc. It's could always be better, but neither is it bad. Last test I went to I was amused the number of people who were trying to buy tickets at booth or from crowd before game, and seemed noone with tickets to sell at gate.
Otago Man
Roar Rookie
Seems hard to believe but just counting in my head there was 10 losses during Mains reign.
JD Kiwi
Roar Rookie
A big part of the current short era is Foster. Although he does have a better win percentage than Mains...
JD Kiwi
Roar Rookie
Jonah was incredible in 95.
Rhys
Roar Rookie
Player drain in NZ seems to be growing with this news. I wonder if we eventually reach a point where both the wallabies and all blacks have an unrestricted selection policy as overseas salaries won’t be dipping anytime soon.
Otago Man
Roar Rookie
Yeah I get what you are saying but I would also throw in that even during the horrible 98 year the losses were pretty close and the complete shut outs we experience in recent years didn't happen apart from the the 2nd half against France 99 semi.
The Ferret
Roar Rookie
I’ll also add as I am watching the Wales v Ireland game live as I type this that I have seen 5 or 6 things that a TMO would have called up but are not even getting a mention. It is 46 min in and I have seen no arm shoulder entries to mauls, players grabbed around the neck in mauls/tackles and even a tip tackle with a player landing on his head. All these would have stopped play last year and at least 2 would have resulted in a yellow card.
The Ferret
Roar Rookie
I still have nightmares from that final game in SA
The Ferret
Roar Rookie
95 ABs are probably the best ABs to ever play. Just got poisoned at the WC otherwise there would be no question
The Ferret
Roar Rookie
I agree Deano but that should become a thing if the past. The new TMO rules with regards to speeding the game up should prevent this.