Savea to cash in on Japanese stint Jamieson eases into comeback
All Blacks star Ardie Savea provided an honest answer when asked why he had decided to take up a sabbatical in Japan in 2024 – ‘‘the money’s good’’.
The recently reappointed Hurricanes captain will head to Japan after the Rugby World Cup and spend a season with League One club Kobelco Kobe Steelers.
Savea will link up with former All Blacks and Hurricanes team-mate Ngani Laumape at Kobe and said he was excited about a change of scenery after 11 years in Super Rugby.
But the biggest factor behind his decision to play overseas was the chance to set up his young family financially.
The 67-test loose forward will leave New Zealand at the end of the year. He will miss the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific campaign but be back by June, making him available for All Blacks selection.
Savea has committed to the Hurricanes for 2025. ‘‘Plain and simple. To set up my family. The money’s good, I’m not gonna lie,’’ he said, after reporting back for Hurricanes pre-season.
‘‘It’s an opportunity to set up my family and also to try something new. It’s a bit of a challenge and hopefully it puts me on my toes.
‘‘Not that I’m not on my toes here but there’s just something about going into a new environment and feeling young and being a rookie again. Hopefully that sparks something in me to keep going for a few more years.’’
Savea said his wife Saskia and their three young children have planned a couple of visits, but will otherwise remain living in Wellington during his stint in Japan.
Kyle Jamieson will play just one of the two tests against England this month as his injury comeback is carefully managed.
Black Caps coach Gary Stead said the towering pace bowler was highly likely to play the series opener with the pink ball at Tauranga’s Bay Oval, starting on February 16, but sit out the second in Wellington.
Jamieson was included in a 14-strong New Zealand squad for the series and is likely to be part of a four-strong pace attack at Bay Oval alongside captain Tim Southee, Matt Henry and Neil Wagner. He hasn’t played for his country since
Kiwi tennis stalwart Rubin Statham started thinking the worst during a scary experience while driving during the Auckland floods on January 27.
The 35-year-old could overtake Onny Parun’s mark for the most Davis Cup victories (singles and doubles) for New Zealand in this weekend’s World Group 1 playoff tie against Bulgaria in Christchurch. The pair are tied on 30 wins, 28 of those coming in singles for Statham.
But Tennis was the last thing on his mind a week ago after being caught up in deep floodwater.
Statham left the Albany Tennis Park for his home in Takapuna, which would usually take about 12 minutes. Driving on Auckland’s Northern Motorway, the road quickly resembled a river with Statham and other road users trying to move off to the side.
‘‘Basically the highway became a lake and I had to go around the side through the water and halfway through the water my car started floating and then turned off completely,’’ he said.
‘‘There was fumes coming out of the front and fumes started coming out where the A/C [air conditioning] comes out. I turned down my window to get the fumes out.’’
Statham admitted there were a few anxious moments with his vehicle floating for five minutes without electronics. Thankfully, a four-wheel drive nudged him from behind and helped push him through to the exit ramp with his car eventually regaining power.
‘‘There’s a small boundary to the right [of the road] where it just drops straight down, so I was thinking my car might go off the edge if it continued to float right.
‘‘That was actually pretty scary. It was pretty lucky I had that four-wheel drive behind me to get me through.’’
Statham never got to thank the driver for getting him to safety, but was grateful suffering a back injury in England in June.
Pace spearhead Trent Boult would not be considered for the second test in Jamieson’s potential absence, Stead said, despite Boult returning from the UAE
T20 league in time. Boult handed in his Black Caps contract to free himself up for T20 opportunities.
‘‘That’s just about [Jamieson’s] continued rehabilitation and making sure we don’t put him in a compromising position going forward when we’ve still got important matches coming up throughout the rest of the year,’’ Stead said.
New Zealand play four home tests within the space of 33 days with Sri Lanka arriving for two tests in March in Christchurch for their actions. It had provided him with some renewed perspective ahead of the Davis Cup tie.
‘‘It was lucky that car came through. I was considering what my next move would be. I was lucky to get through that one, so it’s my second life down here in Christchurch [this weekend].’’
New Zealand Davis Cup captain Kelly Evernden said if it hadn’t been for the driver Statham might have been ‘‘a duck without a head floating around in the water there’’.
‘‘It was a horrible thing to have happened.’’
Statham, who is New Zealand’s most capped Davis Cup player with 33 ties, debuting in 2005, returns to the side after missing September’s 5-0 loss to Finland, following a dispute with Tennis NZ.
He proposed a preparation plan leading into the tie and wanted Davis Cup teammates Kiranpal Pannu and Ajeet Rai to
and Wellington. Jamieson, who has returned via club cricket and T20 and 50-over matches for Auckland, will play for the New Zealand XI in a twoday match against England in Hamilton on Wednesday and Thursday.
Should Jamieson play in the first test in Tauranga, there wouldn’t be any specific restrictions on his overs in a day or spell, Stead said. They would be careful with how he was used though with the focus on his long-term availability and health.
‘‘We feel now is the right time with four tests in the next month or so he is ready to take that next step, but again I lace that with a little bit of caution that we want to make sure we do the right thing by Kyle. join him for several overseas tournaments to be at their peak.
Statham and Tennis NZ could not come to terms with the contract, but he said the relationship had since improved and there had been positive steps forward.
‘‘It was unfortunate I couldn’t play that tie, but I think they’ve done things a bit more professionally for this tie and taken some things on board. It’s good to see and also for the next generation of players. If we’re looking at World Group Davis Cup and top 100 singles players we’re going to have to do things really professionally and with the right intentions.’’
Statham was passionate about New Zealand tennis and the country doing well on the world stage. His suggestions for the national body came from a good place, he said.
‘‘How I see other teams preparing into Davis Cup ties, it’s something we need to look at – the preparation phase leading in
‘‘He’s obviously an important asset to us. There’s no doubt what he’s done at the start of his career is pretty amazing. We want to make sure we get him back to that form as well.’’
Jamieson has played one pink-ball match in his elite career, featuring for the New Zealand XI in a two-day match at Seddon Park when England toured the country in 2018.
He starred with the bat, blasting 101 off 111 balls, which drew some words from frustrated English bowler James Anderson, with one of the umpires having to step in.
Jamieson has been back bowling since the start of November and operating off his full run since about early January.
‘‘While the eyes haven’t seen how many overs I’ve bowled, I’ve got a decent to really set ourselves up to have the best chance to win these ties. That’s what I’ve been pushing. That we do that collectively as a team and it’s good to see some improvements in that area.’’
If Statham could gain another singles win this weekend and move ahead of Parun, who made the final of the Australian Open in 1973, it would be meaningful.
In 2016, he took another record off Parun in Christchurch against Pakistan, becoming New Zealand’s most capped Davis Cup player with 26 ties.
‘‘It was my goal to get that singles record and I’ve done that and I’m tied with Onny for the most overall wins. I’m happy with being tied with Onny actually, that’s a great name to be tied with.’’
After some frustrating times with injury, including hip surgery in 2019, he was feeling the healthiest he had in several years. workload under my belt. It’s just another step on the journey and how we manage these next couple of weeks will be an ongoing discussion,’’ Jamieson said yesterday.
After such a lengthy injury layoff, he admitted to feeling some emotion when Stead informed him he was returning to the test side for the first time in six months. Donning the black baggy again and representing his country would be a proud moment.
Seamer Henry is also set to return at Bay Oval after suffering an abdominal injury which occurred during the latter stages of the second test against Pakistan early last month.
Henry won’t participate in the warmup match against England with wife Holly due to give birth to their first child.
Statham was also playing decent tennis, after what he rated as the best Davis Cup victory of his career last March, beating Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas 7-6 6-2. Cuevas had a career-high singles ranking of 19 in 2016 and New Zealand won the World Group I tie 3-1 in Las Vegas.
At his most recent ATP Challenger New Caledonia Open event in January, he reached the quarterfinals in the singles and won the doubles with Colin Sinclair (Northern Mariana Islands).
Bulgaria would be a formidable opponent this weekend, but Statham said that there was strong belief in the New Zealand side, especially with the tie at home.
‘‘I think on paper they’re favourites, but we’ve beaten many countries when we’ve been the underdog and we kind of thrive off that as a team.’’