Ardie Suemalo Savea (born 14 October 1993) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a flanker or number 8 for in the Bunnings NPC, Hurricanes in Super Rugby and international rugby for the New Zealand All Blacks. Savea was a member of New Zealand's 2019 Rugby World Cup squad and a nominee for 2019 World Rugby Player of the Year.
Savea has previously captained Wellington, and also previously played for the Barbarian F.C., for the New Zealand U20's team, and the New Zealand national rugby sevens team.
Early life
Savea was a member of the Rongotai College 1st XV, captain of the side in his final year of high school and was head prefect in his final year. Savea played as an outside centre at high school, shifting to the forwards in his professional career.
Playing career
Early career
Savea has represented New Zealand on the international sevens circuit. In the 2013 Super Rugby season he joined the Hurricanes after signing a two-year deal.
In November 2013, Savea travelled with the All Blacks to Europe, along with his older brother Julian. This was because "we want to introduce him to the way of the All Black life," said Coach Steve Hansen. Savea was the first non-playing apprentice to be selected internationally for New Zealand, with future teammates of Savea, Jordie Barrett and Atunaisa Moli, being named as apprentices in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
2015-2016
In 2015, Savea was selected for the All Blacks Sevens squad to play in the Wellington 7s series in January 2016. Savea also became a regular starter for the Hurricanes during the 2015 Super Rugby season, but missed the final due to injury. After injury to Brad Shields, Savea took over as captain of Wellington for the rest of the 2015 ITM Cup season. Savea lead Wellington to the final of the Championship division in the absence of Shields, but Wellington lost the final to Hawke's Bay's Magpies, 25-26, with a late conversion from Savea's Hurricanes teammate Ihaia West.
In 2016, after opting to withdraw from the All Blacks Sevens, Savea was selected in New Zealand's All Blacks squad for the June test series against Wales. Savea made his debut for the All Blacks, replacing Sam Cane off the bench, on 11 June, against Wales at Eden Park. Savea made a fine debut, with the All Blacks winning 39-21. The following week, Savea scored a try in his second match for New Zealand at the Westpac Stadium, his home crowd. Savea again made his way onto the field by replacing Cane off the bench. The All Blacks won, again, by 36-22.
Savea was retained in the All Blacks squad for the 2016 Rugby Championship and following an injury to Sam Cane, Savea ended up playing 2 of the Rugby Championship tests as openside flanker. In his first start for the All Blacks against South Africa in the 2016 Rugby Championship, Ardie scored a try along with his brother Julian, making them the first brothers in the All Blacks to ever do so in the same test.
Savea played 12 tests for the All Blacks in his debut season overall, 10 of them off the bench.
2017-2018
Savea was one of the highest try-scorers for the 2017 Super Rugby season, scoring six that year including a double in the Hurricanes' opening match for the year within the first ten minutes. The Hurricanes won their opening match 83-17 against the Sunwolves, with Savea playing the full 80 minutes.
Savea was selected in the 33-man squad for the 2017 Pasifika Challenge against Samoa and the three-test series against the touring British and Irish Lions. Savea started at number 8, against Samoa, because All Blacks Captain Kieran Read had not yet recovered from his broken thumb. Savea scored two tries in the 78-0 demolition of Samoa and came off the bench as a replacement in all three tests against the Lions in a drawn series. Despite performing better than starting openside flanker Sam Cane, Savea was retained as an impact player off the bench for most of the 2017 Rugby Championship. A start against Argentina in New Plymouth was the exception, with Cane replacing Savea in the 44th minute of the 39-22 win. Despite a good performance, Savea's was overshadowed by Cane and by Vaea Fifita who was Man of the Match.
With Matt Todd preferred by All Black coach Steve Hansen during tests, Savea only made two appearances on the 2017 end-of-year tour, starting in wins over the Barbarians and a French XV.