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‘Going to miss him’: Hurricanes coach on the ‘void’ left by Ardie Savea

Ardie Savea of the Hurricanes walk out of the players tunnel before the during the round 15 Super Rugby Pacific match between Hurricanes and Crusaders at Sky Stadium, on June 03, 2023, in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Masanori Udagawa/Getty Images)

It doesn’t get any tougher than trying to fill the “void” left by the departure of the World Rugby Player of the Year, but that’s an issue facing the Hurricanes ahead of Super Rugby Pacific 2024.

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All Blacks backrower Ardie Savea will miss the entirety of next year’s campaign after taking up a well-earned sabbatical as part of his deal with New Zealand Rugby.

Savea, 30, will play for former Wallabies coach Dave Rennie in Japan’s Rugby League One competition after inking a deal with Kobe Kobelco Steelers.

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    Canes head coach Clark Laidlaw, who formerly coached the All Blacks Sevens side, said it will be tough to fill the hole left by “the best player in the world.”

    “It’s a big void. He’s the best player in the world. He’s a leader, he’s captained the All Blacks, and he’s an outstanding man,” Laidlaw said, as reported by Stuff.

    “We’re going to miss him, but hopefully he’s not gone forever. He will be back and hopefully he can enjoy his time in Japan with Dave Rennie and the team.”

    The Hurricanes unveiled their 38-man squad for the upcoming campaign on Thursday, and while the departure of Ardie and Julian Savea are talking points, there’s reasons to be optimistic if you’re a fan of the Wellington-based franchise.

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    All Blacks Cam Roigard and TJ Perenara will combine for a formidable one-two punch as the two leading halfbacks in the squad, and playmaker Ruben Love is back and raring to go.

    But the most exciting pickup ahead of the new season is Brad Shields. The former England international returns home to New Zealand for his second stint with the Hurricanes.

    Shields, 32, is one of six loose forwards including Wellington Lions skipper Du’Plessis Kirifi, and players to watch Peter Lakai, TK Howden and Brayden Iose.

    “The last time I saw Brad we were having a few beers after the 2015 final, which we lost,” Laidlaw added. “We had a chuckle about that a few weeks ago.

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    “If you talk about leadership, he role models what you want in a player every day. We want him to come in and be a role model, a really good professional and want to start.

    “His performances for Wellington were really strong for someone who has been overseas, the way he adapted and came back was exceptional, so we’re really fortunate to fill Ardie’s spot with someone like Brad Shields.”

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    JWH 6 hours ago
    'Matches between Les Bleus and the All Blacks are rarely for the faint-hearted.'

    Do you hear yourself? Do you have any concept of world view? Have you tried looking into why people call Ireland ‘arrogant’? Obviously not.


    We started calling you arrogant when you called our captain a ‘shit Richie McCaw’. In New Zealand. On our turf. Don’t think that kind of behaviour really calls for respect, does it.


    NZ don’t really talk ourselves up, if anything the rugby does it for us. No kiwi goes in the media and says: ‘We are gonna win the RWC’. However, I have found many instance of IRISH media saying that the Irish should win, without a doubt. THAT is disrespectful.


    The All Blacks have played good rugby, even some of the best rugby ever, at many points in history, but I don’t think you could find a single instance of one of those players, or the NZ media, saying that they should whitewash their opponents. Ever.


    Now, onto your analysis. Ireland DID choke the QF. They beat the champions, they were ranked first coming into it, a lot of players at the peaks of their powers. Its hard to say that they didn’t choke. Obviously, their preparation was just not as good as NZ, and thats all there really is to it.


    If Ireland had repsected that ABs team and that QF more, maybe they would’ve prepared properly for it and won. But they didn’t.


    Maybe if Ireland had won their QF last RWC, they wouldn’t have to be in the same pool as SA and Scotland. I mean, its called a draw for a reason. NZ got third last RWC, so of course they should get a reasonable pool, and they were ranked pretty highly too. If you want to talk about easy pools, look no further than Pool 3 with England, Australia, Fiji, and Georgia I think?


    Now, obviously you don’t remember how that QF ended, so I’ll go ahead and rectify that. Ireland reclaimed the ball off kickoff and marched for 20ish phases into the opposition half. Savea then won a turnover, but the referee refused to give it, so play went on. Finally, at the NZ 22, after not giving up a single penatly in 25 phases of hard defense, Sam Whitelock, the most capped All Black of all time, wins the game with an incredible steal.


    Now, NZ players having a go at Ireland. Do you cry when you get hit after making the first swing? We all know Sexton is a prick on the field, its just the truth. And Ioane never backs down from a clash, so he thought he should humble a player who has never won an international knockout game who thought he was all that. Don’t really see the issue, its poetic justice really.

    83 Go to comments
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