RUGBY TRANSFER SPECULATION should always be taken with a pinch of salt: an agent will often spread the word that a club is interested in recruiting their player in order to strengthen their hand at the negotiation table with the player’s current employer.
That Ardie Savea was today linked with a move to Leinster by the New Zealand Herald, though, was likely not a form of contractual posturing but a political statement.
Cutting to the chase for the Leinster fans among you, Savea is highly unlikely to line out for the eastern province next season (although Leinster would be foolish not to pull that particular thread over the phone). Instead, by floating the idea of a move to Europe next year, or an extension to his current sabbatical in Japan, Savea is effectively threatening to pull out of the All Blacks’ money-spinning tour of South Africa later this year as well as next year’s World Cup in Australia.
Savea is one of several senior All Blacks angling for significant coaching changes at national level following what’s understood to have been a damning internal review into Scott Robertson’s two-year reign to date after an unimpressive 2025 campaign.
The NZ Herald’s Liam Napier reported in December that feedback from both players and staff presented a deeply concerning picture of the All Blacks environment, from which two assistant coaches, Leon MacDonald and Jason Holland, have voluntarily departed in the last two years.
Assistant coach MacDonald left his role a year into his four-year contract in August 2024, politely citing philosophical differences between him and his former Crusaders colleague around the All Blacks’ attack.
Advertisement
His successor, Holland, declined to renew his All Blacks contract at the end of 2025 and instead took an assistant role with the Hurricanes, the Super Rugby franchise of which he was the head coach himself before joining Robertson’s national-team setup.
Addressing Holland’s impending departure last October, Robertson described the former Munster back as “a really good coach and a good friend”, and gave “full respect” to his assistant for making what he framed as a family decision.
Behind the veneer of civility, though, all has clearly not been well during Robertson’s tenure to date.
It’s understood that several of his Crusaders players were not enamoured with the idea of ‘Razor’ being promoted to the All Blacks job in 2024 despite winning an era-defining seven Super Rugby titles — and 98 out of 117 total games — under his watch.
And whereas several senior All Blacks approached New Zealand’s then-CEO Mark Robinson in his Johannesburg hotel room to express their support for under-fire head coach Ian Foster in 2022 (Foster was consequentially kept on through the 2023 World Cup), Robertson’s time in charge appears closer to sparking a player mutiny than achieving unity.
The concerns of Savea, a Test centurion and former World Player of the Year who has captained his country on several occasions with Scott Barrett missing through injury, are likely to be taken seriously by New Zealand Rugby’s top brass.
So too will the team’s fortunes, of course. The All Blacks’ aura of invincibility has long since dissipated, with a muddled-looking attack, third-quarter collapses and a general inconsistency of performance plaguing Robertson’s two years as head coach.
An added complication, however, is that the union’s hierarchy is currently in a handover period and not in position to take definitive action one way or the other: Mark Robinson finished up at the end of 2025, with general manager of community rugby, Steve Lancaster, taking charge in an interim capacity until a new CEO begins, likely in the spring.
Savea, meanwhile, remains likely to feature for the All Blacks in South Africa this summer and autumn, as well as at the World Cup next year. The powerful back row is currently on loan with the Kobe Steelers in the Japan’s League 1 but is under contract with New Zealand until the end of next year and is expected to return to Moana Pasifika for the 2027 Super Rugby season.
Last June, the 32-year-old Savea described the 2025 campaign, during which Tana Umaga’s side came within a whisker of reaching the play-offs, as “the happiest I’ve been in my career.”
“I have so much love for what we started with Moana this year, so I’m looking forward to coming back in 2027,” Savea added.
“It’s hard to leave, even though it’s only for one season, but I’ll be supporting the team from afar and will stay involved behind the scenes.”
Those sentiments, albeit expressed more than half a year ago, make it seem unlikely that Savea will seek a way out of his contract and, in doing so, forego a chance to play at a third World Cup next year.
But with the Herald also reporting that one senior Blues player declined the chance to join the All Blacks squad for last November’s Test against Wales, New Zealand Rugby finds itself in a sticky situation ahead of August and September’s landmark tour of South Africa.
With the All Blacks brand — or, at least, what it’s understood to stand for — under such apparent threat, it’s difficult to imagine the current coaching ticket surviving the year in its current guise.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
15 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Savea's threat to leave might ultimately be empty, but it represents a big problem for NZ Rugby
RUGBY TRANSFER SPECULATION should always be taken with a pinch of salt: an agent will often spread the word that a club is interested in recruiting their player in order to strengthen their hand at the negotiation table with the player’s current employer.
That Ardie Savea was today linked with a move to Leinster by the New Zealand Herald, though, was likely not a form of contractual posturing but a political statement.
Cutting to the chase for the Leinster fans among you, Savea is highly unlikely to line out for the eastern province next season (although Leinster would be foolish not to pull that particular thread over the phone). Instead, by floating the idea of a move to Europe next year, or an extension to his current sabbatical in Japan, Savea is effectively threatening to pull out of the All Blacks’ money-spinning tour of South Africa later this year as well as next year’s World Cup in Australia.
Savea is one of several senior All Blacks angling for significant coaching changes at national level following what’s understood to have been a damning internal review into Scott Robertson’s two-year reign to date after an unimpressive 2025 campaign.
The NZ Herald’s Liam Napier reported in December that feedback from both players and staff presented a deeply concerning picture of the All Blacks environment, from which two assistant coaches, Leon MacDonald and Jason Holland, have voluntarily departed in the last two years.
Assistant coach MacDonald left his role a year into his four-year contract in August 2024, politely citing philosophical differences between him and his former Crusaders colleague around the All Blacks’ attack.
His successor, Holland, declined to renew his All Blacks contract at the end of 2025 and instead took an assistant role with the Hurricanes, the Super Rugby franchise of which he was the head coach himself before joining Robertson’s national-team setup.
Addressing Holland’s impending departure last October, Robertson described the former Munster back as “a really good coach and a good friend”, and gave “full respect” to his assistant for making what he framed as a family decision.
Behind the veneer of civility, though, all has clearly not been well during Robertson’s tenure to date.
It’s understood that several of his Crusaders players were not enamoured with the idea of ‘Razor’ being promoted to the All Blacks job in 2024 despite winning an era-defining seven Super Rugby titles — and 98 out of 117 total games — under his watch.
And whereas several senior All Blacks approached New Zealand’s then-CEO Mark Robinson in his Johannesburg hotel room to express their support for under-fire head coach Ian Foster in 2022 (Foster was consequentially kept on through the 2023 World Cup), Robertson’s time in charge appears closer to sparking a player mutiny than achieving unity.
The concerns of Savea, a Test centurion and former World Player of the Year who has captained his country on several occasions with Scott Barrett missing through injury, are likely to be taken seriously by New Zealand Rugby’s top brass.
So too will the team’s fortunes, of course. The All Blacks’ aura of invincibility has long since dissipated, with a muddled-looking attack, third-quarter collapses and a general inconsistency of performance plaguing Robertson’s two years as head coach.
An added complication, however, is that the union’s hierarchy is currently in a handover period and not in position to take definitive action one way or the other: Mark Robinson finished up at the end of 2025, with general manager of community rugby, Steve Lancaster, taking charge in an interim capacity until a new CEO begins, likely in the spring.
Savea, meanwhile, remains likely to feature for the All Blacks in South Africa this summer and autumn, as well as at the World Cup next year. The powerful back row is currently on loan with the Kobe Steelers in the Japan’s League 1 but is under contract with New Zealand until the end of next year and is expected to return to Moana Pasifika for the 2027 Super Rugby season.
Last June, the 32-year-old Savea described the 2025 campaign, during which Tana Umaga’s side came within a whisker of reaching the play-offs, as “the happiest I’ve been in my career.”
“I have so much love for what we started with Moana this year, so I’m looking forward to coming back in 2027,” Savea added.
“It’s hard to leave, even though it’s only for one season, but I’ll be supporting the team from afar and will stay involved behind the scenes.”
Those sentiments, albeit expressed more than half a year ago, make it seem unlikely that Savea will seek a way out of his contract and, in doing so, forego a chance to play at a third World Cup next year.
But with the Herald also reporting that one senior Blues player declined the chance to join the All Blacks squad for last November’s Test against Wales, New Zealand Rugby finds itself in a sticky situation ahead of August and September’s landmark tour of South Africa.
With the All Blacks brand — or, at least, what it’s understood to stand for — under such apparent threat, it’s difficult to imagine the current coaching ticket surviving the year in its current guise.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
All Blacks Rugby