Emotions high as Savea ponders next move

Captain Ardie Savea is anticipating tonight’s final-round clash against the Reds to be an emotional occasion as the Hurricanes say au revoir to All Blacks second-five Ngani Laumape after six seasons in the capital.

But whether the game will double as the skipper’s own farewell remains to be seen as the offcontract Savea is still undecided on his playing future beyond the 2021 Super Rugby Trans-Tasman tournament.

‘‘I still haven’t decided what I’m doing just yet,’’ Savea said. ‘‘I’ve kind of been focusing on getting my injury right.

‘‘Being a leader of this team, you just want to stay in the moment, stay present, and for me my mindset has just been to get the boys ready for this week. But probably after this week or next I will start to think about that stuff.’’

The fourth-placed Hurricanes look set to miss out on a place in the Trans-Tasman final, needing to beat the Reds and for other results to fall their way, after suffering a costly 12-10 defeat to the Brumbies in Canberra last weekend.

Jordie Barrett had a chance to win the game on fulltime but was wayward with his penalty kick, leaving the Hurricanes languishing three points behind leaders the Blues and two points adrift the Highlanders and Crusaders.

‘‘I know Jords takes that stuff [to heart] because he loves to be in those moments and people can easily blame him, but there were so many more opportunities for us as a team that we could have pounced on in that game.

‘‘The great thing about footy is you lose one, but you have an opportunity to rectify it this week, and we are quite excited to have the opportunity again against a really tough Reds side.’’

With their finals fate out of their control, Savea said the Hurricanes wanted to end the season on a high by giving their departing players a fitting sendoff in the team’s final appearance at Sky Stadium.

‘‘Being back at home in front of family and friends and knowing that it’s the last game for a few of our players is pretty special. That’s one of the big drivers for us this week,’’ Savea said.