Fiery Savea likely to start against Blues
Wellington: Hurricanes head coach
Jason Holland said day one back at training was awesome and his players were like little kids who could finally go outside after being stuck inside for so long.
Ardie Savea missed the opening part of the season, recovering from knee surgery, but pre-COVID he was all set to return to play a few weeks ago. Holland said he had a good chance of featuring in round one of Investec Super Rugby Aotearoa, but they were monitoring him.
“With Ardie it’s not massively important that he plays in round one if it’s not the absolute right thing for him to do. We have four weeks where we will take our time with Ardie and in two weeks’ time we will have a better idea as to whether he is ready to go.
“But he has a smile on his face, and he was doing everything with the boys at training. We will do the best thing by Ardie and if he doesn’t make it to game one, then I’m sure there will be lots of other boys chomping at the bit and Ardie won’t be far away.”
Savea hasn’t played since last year’s World Cup, where he featured at 6, 7 and No.8 throughout the tournament. Holland is a big fan of Savea at the back of the scrum.
“I think No.8 suits his game. He gets his hands on the ball a lot more, being the massive carrier he is. By the same token, I think you’ve seen the way we approached the start of our year with our nines and tens,” he said.
“We want a bit of flexibility to start and finish games in a certain way and that’s not different with Ardie. The ability for him to play 8 and 7 is going to be massive for us.”
The Hurricanes underwent fitness testing on their first day back, with personal bests being set in the bronco. Holland confirmed Jordie Barrett didn’t quite complete the bronco test as fast as his older brother Beauden, but he was happy with the nick his players were in.