Savea says he’s no fan of World League
Ardie Savea thinks the proposed World League will shut out the Pacific Island nations.
The All Blacks and Hurricanes flanker responded to World Rugby’s plan to form a 12-team league of nations which does not include Tonga, Samoa or Fiji by saying he was not a fan of it.
‘‘I’ve just seen brief stuff on it, but, to be honest, not a fan. Plain and simple.
‘‘Player workload and shunning our Pacific brothers is not for me personally.’’
Rugby bosses tried to insist yesterday that Pacific Island teams won’t be shut out of the proposed World League if they merit inclusion based on performance.
Player welfare and the plight of the island nations have been two of the major talking points since details of the championship were leaked late last week.
Savea said the rugby schedule was already hectic enough without more international rugby taking All Blacks away from Super Rugby.
‘‘I’m struggling to sit out now with the restrictions we’ve got now.
‘‘I’m not too sure, if I have to sit out more then so be it, but I’m struggling as it is not being able to play and having limited minutes, so I doubt I’ll be happy if the World League goes ahead.’’
Savea missed the Hurricanes’ round two loss to the Crusaders as he was sitting out an All Blacks rest week. He has to have two of those this season, while he couldn’t exceed more than 180 minutes of game time across the first three weeks and can’t play more than five games in a row as the All Blacks look to manage their players’ workloads in a World Cup year.