{"id":565545,"date":"2026-08-11T09:10:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T09:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/565545\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T09:10:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T09:10:15","slug":"itchy-feet-ardie-savea-excited-about-reuniting-with-all-blacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/565545\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Itchy feet’ – Ardie Savea excited about reuniting with All Blacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

All Blacks captain Ardie Savea is mentally and physically refreshed after his two-week break at home in Wellington but says he got \u201citchy feet\u201d watching his teammates play in South Africa<\/a> and is excited about joining them.<\/p>\n

Savea \u2013 given leave to remain at home and miss the first three games of the \u201cgreatest rivalry\u201d tour \u2013 spoke to 1News at Auckland International Airport before his journey to Johannesburg. Savea will be in the air when his teammates play the second game of the tour against the Sharks in Durban tomorrow morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been very important,\u201d Savea said, of his break. \u201cYou\u2019ve heard that I\u2019ve been going for 19 or 20 months of non-stop footy. <\/p>\n

\u201cBeing at home, physically, is important. You\u2019ve still got to do the mahi. But more so the mental refresh \u2013 being away from the game, being really present at home. Just being a dad, being a husband. Doing things around the house has been really refreshing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got itchy feet watching the boys in the last game. I\u2019m excited about getting stuck into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Savea, who came straight back into the All Blacks last month after helping the Kobe Steelers win a Japanese championship with All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie, hasn’t been idle during his break.<\/p>\n

\"All<\/p>\n

All Blacks captain Ardie Savea. (Source: Photosport)<\/p>\n

Determined to do the school drop-offs and pick-ups, he has fitted his training schedule around his children which has involved 5.30am starts. Former All Blacks loose forward Victor Vito has been one of his training partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe body is good,\u201d he said, before adding: \u201cIt\u2019s a different beast going to Africa. You can do all the training you want, and the running, but nothing prepares you for the rugby, especially at Ellis Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s different to Super Rugby. They love their maul, they love their set piece. They love to run direct.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing fancy about them. It\u2019s a physical battle. It\u2019s good for us to be there and experience what South African rugby is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ardie<\/p>\n

Ardie Savea speaks to referee Nic Berry during his team’s win over Ireland at Eden Park last month. (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n

He is also aware of the critics \u2013 those who say the 32-year-old should have been with the team from the start for this most arduous of tours.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s entitled to their opinion and they just care \u2013 they care for the jersey,\u201d Savea said. \u201cI understand from a leadership point of view\u2026 but\u2026 before I\u2019m the leader of the All Blacks, I\u2019m the leader of my family. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been given this time by the management and the team. For the critics \u2013 I understand it and know that they care. For me, that motivates me\u2026 I\u2019ll prove them wrong with my actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Savea, who has played 111 Tests after making his debut in 2016, said he probably would not emulate former teammate Ma\u2019a Nonu, who is still playing at the age of 44 and has been named on the Sharks\u2019 bench<\/a> for tomorrow morning\u2019s match.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think so \u2013 maybe not,\u201d Savea said, adding: \u201cHe\u2019s such a legend of our country and our communities. It\u2019s awesome to see him, hopefully, have a go against our boys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Savea will meet the team in Johannesburg with 10 days to prepare for the first Test at Ellis Park.<\/p>\n

He said every Test against the Boks was a challenge, let alone four in a row. The All Blacks play the fourth and final Test against the world champions in Baltimore, USA. <\/p>\n

Savea added: \u201cThere\u2019s nothing like testing yourself against the best on their home territory to see where you stand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch Andrew Saville’s interview with Ardie Savea on TV1 at 6pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All Blacks captain Ardie Savea is mentally and physically refreshed after his two-week break at home in Wellington…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":565546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[789,111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-565545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-all-blacks","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}