Former All Black James Parsons has raised the possibility of the Crusaders being a good fit for Ardie Savea as the back-rower ponders his future following Moana Pasifika’s demise.
It was recently announced that the franchise would exit Super Rugby Pacific at the end of the season due to their financial problems.
As a result, their players, including Savea, will be looking for a new club ahead of the 2027 campaign.
The Hurricanes, given his decade-long connection to the Wellington outfit, would be an obvious fit, while he has also been heavily linked to the Blues.
With Dalton Papali’i and Hoskins Sotutu departing, bringing in the 2023 World Rugby Player of the Year makes sense from that perspective, but the Crusaders are also lacking at openside.
Usual centre Leicester Fainga’anuku has been trialled in that position over the past two Super Rugby games, but they have lacked depth in that slot since the departure of Tom Christie.
“Could the Crusaders be after Ardie? If you think about this, Leicester moving to seven, is there an opportunity that they feel like it’s something they need in their game?” Parsons suggested on the Aotearoa Rugby Pod.
The former Blues hooker was joined on the show by ex-Crusaders scrum-half Bryn Hall, who would relish seeing Savea run out in Christchurch next season.
“If he’s up for a conversation around signing, why wouldn’t you? He’s one of the best players in the world,” Hall
“Having Leicester in that position and putting him at seven, you would be crazy not to have a conversation. It’s whether Ardie would want to come down to the Crusaders.
“There’s obviously a lot of history and a lot of battles against the Hurricanes and even Moana when he was there, but if you were the Crusaders, you would be stupid not to have a conversation or try and get him down there, especially with what you see in the loose forwards at the moment.”
Parsons then joked that Savea and Fainga’anuku could then swap positions, given the rise of the hybrid player and the athleticism the 32-year-old possesses.
“Could we see Penns (head coach Rob Penney) put Ardie at centre and Leicester at seven?” he quipped, with Hall responding: “Look, you can put Ardie Savea anywhere on the field, it doesn’t matter if it’s seven, 13 or anything. Maybe a little bit of a hybrid switching them in the game to keep teams guessing.”
If Savea does indeed sign for the Crusaders and Fainga’anuku is still performing well at openside, they may need to find another position for the great back-rower.
The Fainga’anuku experiment appears set to continue, with Parsons surprised that Penney opted not to shift the 26-year-old when centre Braydon Ennor pulled out late on with an injury ahead of last weekend’s Hurricanes clash.
“I was surprised even with the late change, they didn’t move Leicester out into the midfield to keep Dallas McLeod on the wing, but they’re all in on the seven train, that’s for sure,” the former All Blacks hooker said.
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