'I don't know if I wanted to share this': Savea reveals bizarre detail from contract saga

All Blacks captain Ardie Savea has revealed that the Blues were the only team chasing his signature during his free agency after the collapse of Moana Pasifika.

The 2023 World Rugby Player of the Year was left clubless when Moana Pasifika’s financial woes caught up with them during the recent season, ending his career with the club after one Player of the Year-winning season in which the team fell agonisingly short of a maiden playoff berth.

With one year left to run on his New Zealand Rugby contract, the born-and-bred Wellingtonian suddenly emerged as one of the biggest signing prospects in Super Rugby history, and his former Hurricanes club, fresh off the most dominant final win in competition history, loomed as a potential landing spot.

It’s easy to assume all five of New Zealand’s clubs would approach the global superstar to at least test the waters, and a live stream on Savea’s YouTube channel last week teased a glimpse of those different realities when he took turns trying on all five of the jerseys as he built towards the big reveal. But it turns out the Blues didn’t win the Savea sweepstakes; they won a one-horse race.

“I don’t know if I wanted to share this, but only the Blues came to the table,” the 32-year-old revealed in an appearance on THE MORNING SHIFT Podcast this week. “So I’m just grateful. Very, very grateful.

“I just want to make a massive shout-out to the Blues, Budgie (Blues CEO Karl Budge), Alfie (Blues head coach Jason Holland); they showed love from the get-go. As soon as the news on Moana, they’ve been showing love, and been the only ones.

“I’m very grateful. And I’m ready to run it back with the Joker (Rieko Ioane) and a few of the legends of the Blues and try to do something special.”

Savea also teased that this would be the final chapter of his New Zealand career, labelling his one-year Blues contract “the last dance”, a reference to the 2020 Michael Jordan documentary.

Reflecting on the most recent chapters in his rugby journey, Savea said he found unparalleled fulfilment in his time with Moana Pasifika.

“If someone was to ask me what the highlight of my career is so far, it would be Moana. 100 per cent. People ask why, and I said ‘we always started with god, and we finished with him’, and I’ve never been part of a team that actually put him at the forefront of everything and our culture and our heritage and understanding just being authentically yourself; Pacific. That was awesome.

“Those boys taught me a lot – even though they think I did a lot, I learned so much from them, and I feel like I am the leader and player I am today because of that.

“It just happens that Auckland is the biggest Pasifika city in the world, so I’m just keen to add to the brothers; there are some awesome boys there, but also to learn. I’m still hungry, especially after this shoulder (injury). I’ll be back at the start of the year, so I’ll be hungry and ready to go.”