Savea’s wife defends Fiji trip

The wife of Julian Savea has defended the former All Blacks wing for leaving Toulon mid-season to attend his brother’s wedding in Fiji.

The Savea family had extra reason to celebrate this Christmas as All Blacks loose forward Ardie Savea wed partner Saskia HartmannHechenberger last week.

Toulon fans expressed displeasure online in social media that their club’s star signing had left his teammates while the French glamour side struggled in 10th place in the Top 14 competition. However, Fatima Savea hit back on Twitter, saying the “unpaid leave” was one of the conditions Toulon agreed to before he joined the club.

“Let me set the record straight. Before Julian signed his contract he asked for time off in December to attend his ONLY brother’s wedding. So this was agreed upon by the club and Julian or else Julian would not have come to Toulon in September and instead in January,” Fatima said in response to Toulon fan criticism online.

Savea last appeared for Toulon in the European Cup victory over Montpellier on December 8.

He is expected to be available for next week’s trip to Racing 92. Meanwhile, Ardie Savea capped a stellar year by marrying Hartmann-Hechenberger in front of family and friends on Denarau Island, including 12-month-old daughter Kobe.

Ardie was one of the All Blacks’ best this season and earlier this month backed out of a deal to join Julian in France, re-signing with New Zealand Rugby through to 2021.

-Rugby Heaven