LONG READ Is Ardie Savea captaincy material for the All Blacks?

The All Blacks didn’t have a lot of great moments in 2025 but there was one memorable incident in the test against the Springboks at Eden Park.

South Africa, having endured a dire opening 60 minutes, were building momentum in the final quarter of their Rugby Championship clash with the All Blacks and had clawed their way back to within seven points.

They were smashing and bashing their way towards a last minute try and an unlikely draw, but two metres from the All Blacks goal-line, Ardie Savea positioned himself over the tackled player, got his hands on the ball and held his weight for long enough to win the turnover penalty and secure the 24-17 win.

As he celebrated – in what was his 100^th Test – he hammered his chest and shouted: “This is my house,” a reference to the All Blacks 31-year unbeaten record at Eden Park that had just been preserved.

After the game, he was asked about that turnover and he said: “You guys [media] do a great job building that pressure.

“As a player, mate, you thrive on that, and it makes you want to do better. That’s what the people of this nation deserve and that’s what we are expected as All Blacks to do.

“For me, I love it. It gets the knots in the gut going and makes me want to perform for the people.”

The way he played that night, the way he’d played in his previous 99 Tests, and the way he spoke with a profound sense of knowing that the All Blacks are the people’s team, he executed the role of captain superbly.

Except he wasn’t the All Blacks captain. He’d captained the team for much of 2021, a few games in 2022 and more than half the season in 2023 due to injuries to Sam Cane, but when new coach Scott Robertson took over in 2024, he elevated Crusaders skipper Scott Barrett to the All Blacks’ job.

There was a strong connection between the two men as they had operated as coach and captain at the Crusaders, and Robertson obviously wanted someone in the role that he knew and trusted.

What’s fascinating now, is that with Robertson gone, new coach Dave Rennie has to decide whether to persevere with Barrett as captain or make a change.

It made for a challenging dynamic as throughout Robertson’s two-year tenure, Barrett never played or spoke like he was the captain, while Savea continuously did both.

It was never apparent whether Barrett even wanted to be captain – admitting as he did, that he had to take a few weeks to think about it when he was first asked.

Most media interpreted that delay as a sign of the respect Barrett had for the job, but two years later, it felt like he may have needed time to talk himself into doing it.

He never looked comfortable in the role and his form dipped to the point where it was marginal as to whether he was still a legitimate automatic starter.

What’s fascinating now, is that with Robertson gone, new coach Dave Rennie has to decide whether to persevere with Barrett as captain or make a change.

The case to stick with Barrett is hard to make. Leaving aside that the role seemed to diminish him and curtail his ability to be the world class lock he was in 2023, he’s barely going to feature in Super Rugby as he’s on sabbatical until the latter rounds, rehabilitating from long-needed surgery.

There is no evidence to suggest that Barrett will handle the dual demands of trying to regain his best form while captaining the team, and if Rennie wants the former, he’d be advised to take away the latter.

Without the burden of the extra responsibilities that come with the job, Barrett would be free to focus on himself and re-establish his credentials as the best lock in the country – or at least get back to using his athleticism and soft hands more effectively.

New Zealand has an emerging cohort of young locks in Tupou Vaa’i, Fabian Holland, Josh Lord and Sam Darry, but Rennie will want a supercharged Barrett in his mix, particularly for the tour to South Africa.

Codie Taylor and Jordie Barrett have been touted as candidates, but why look past Savea? He’s got experience, he handles the media responsibility well, he’s a guaranteed starter, he’s got good rapport with referees and commands respect globally.

The bonus with an in-form Barrett is that he can revert to blindside in the final quarter of big Tests and give the All Blacks the size and explosive power they will need to diffuse the bomb squad.

And if Rennie wants an alternative to Barrett, surely there is only one logical choice – which is Savea?

Codie Taylor and Jordie Barrett have been touted as candidates, but why look past Savea? He’s got experience, he handles the media responsibility well, he’s a guaranteed starter, he’s got good rapport with referees and commands respect globally.

Adding to Savea’s claim is that he has spent the last six months working with Rennie (and assistant coach Mike Blair) at Kobe and he has an established relationship (through their time with Moana Pasifika) with incoming defence coach Tana Umaga.

It seems a no brainer, yet there is a but with Savea – a couple of issues that need to be ironed out.

The first is that Savea may not be available for the first three Tests of the Nations Championship in July.

He’s currently negotiating with NZR (and Rennie) a load management programme to get him through to the World Cup next year in prime condition.

One option on the table is for him to rest up in July as he has endured a heavy playing load since August 2023 with limited time off.

He played for Kobe after the 2023 World Cup and came home in late May 2024 and was effectively straight into work with the All Blacks where he played virtually every minute of every Test.

He had an off-season in late 2024, but then had a huge campaign with Moana Pasifika, another heavy workload with the All Blacks and was straight back to Kobe in November last year where he will be until late May.

And this is where the cloud hangs over Savea – he was afforded two sabbaticals and he chose to play in Japan on both occasions (banking an estimated $4 million) – and now he’s negotiating more time off.

The story of how all this played out is the bigger cloud hanging over Savea’s captaincy claim. The NZ Herald revealed that Savea met with NZR chair David Kirk in Edinburgh last year and asked to be released from the last two years of his contract.

There is a cohort of fans not supportive of elevating him to the captaincy as there seems to be some immovable suspicion that Savea somehow engineered the fate of Robertson and is an overly powerful figure within the All Blacks.

Savea reportedly said he was missing home life with his wife and three kids too much and that he was also physically and mentally tired. He reportedly said to Kirk that the only solution to his predicament that he could see was to quit.

He didn’t appear to have a close bond with former coach Robertson either and it has taken some prolonged negotiation to get Savea back from the brink.

It’s clear from mainstream reporting and social media reaction that Savea has divided the nation to some extent.

There is a cohort of fans not supportive of elevating him to the captaincy as there seems to be some immovable suspicion that Savea somehow engineered the fate of Robertson and is an overly powerful figure within the All Blacks.

This thinking persists despite continued strong denials from Kirk and various senior players: “I’m a bit disappointed,” Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu told reporters at the launch of Super Rugby Pacific.

“He’s been used as a scapegoat when he’s probably just expressed his views in a review, and it’s come out. A lot of people expressed their views in the review; everyone in the team does.

“I suppose it’s just easy to latch onto him because he’s probably the best player in the world at the moment. It’s a bit disappointing, but people are going to say what they’re going to say.”

Given Rennie’s track record of knowing his own mind and being certain about what really matters, it seems unlikely he’ll take much note of public perception.

What will matter to him is that for the last two years – probably the last five – Savea has played and acted like the All Blacks captain and the playing group is 100 per cent behind him.

There’s going to be barely 18 months to prepare for the World Cup when the team next assembles in July and given Savea’s previous experience and existing relationships with the coaching staff, it would be an unjustifiable risk to overlook him.

Savea will likely leave New Zealand after the World Cup, at which point, assuming Rennie  -who is only contracted until the end of 2027 – is granted an extension, the coach can pick a new, younger captain to lead the All Blacks through to 2031.

Also, it’s not such a big deal that Savea may not play in July – that can be sold as an opportunity to build leadership and hand the captaincy to Jordie Barrett or Taylor or even Vaa’i.

Having first captained the team on a temporary basis in 2021, Savea appears set to finally be appointed to the role on a permanent basis.