Ardie Savea: Trailblazer
PHOTO: By Caitlyn Williamson on Dupe
Ardie Savea’s move to Moana Pasifika certainly raised a few eyebrows when it was announced.
After walking away from his hometown team, the Hurricanes, with which he had spent 11 years and become one of their greatest players, Savea joined a Moana Pasifika side that had struggled ever since their inaugural season in Super Rugby.
From a purely rugby perspective, the move wasn’t what you would consider ‘the norm’ for one of the game’s biggest stars. Savea could walk in and start for every team in the world, no questions asked.
Media, pundits and fans were quick to judge and question the move, with some even believing the move would jeopardise Savea’s spot in the All Blacks.
During the discourse and discussion of the move, I wrote an article for Canta’s Aotearoa issue titled ‘The Significance of Ardie Savea Joining Moana Pasifika’, where I highlighted the move was about something much bigger than just rugby. It signifies the importance of represnting your roots and inspiring the next genration.
Of course, from a rugby standpoint, it was a gamble, but fast forward eight months, and I don’t even know if the most optimistic of fans could’ve predicted how well it’s played out.
As a team, Moana Pasifika are on course to make the qualifying finals for the first time in their history. They’ve picked up victories against four out of the five other Kiwi teams, including an impressive 45 – 29 win versus the Crusaders in Christchurch, and a historic six point victory over the Blues, with Savea having one of the best individual performances in Super Rugby history in that game.
In the wake of that memorable night at North Harbour Stadium, it was also announced Ardie Savea had claimed the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific Player of the Year award.
Hamish Bidwell, an experienced opinion and sports writer for the New Zealand Herald, RNZ, Stuff and Rugby Pass, brought up in a recent article that up until this year, not many young aspiring rugby players would have dreamed of one day putting on the Moana Pasifika jersey.
Since their debut season in 2022, Moana had finished either last or second-to-last in the competition and was seen as a place for players who weren’t quite good enough to crack the supposedly ‘superior’ New Zealand teams.
But with one of the world's best now plying their trade for Moana, the mindset and overall attitude towards the team and Pasifika rugby as a whole has shifted.
“How many Blues players wished they were on the other side on Saturday night? How many players at other franchises pondered the same? How many kids watching in the stands or on television set their hearts on becoming Moana Pasifika players one day?” questioned Bidwell via his article on Rugby Pass.
Similar to the passion and love we see for the Warriors in the NRL, Moana Pasifika is another example of why representing culture is everything.
The on-field effects of Ardie Savea playing for Moana are all there to see. He has been immense, but the cultural and societal effects both now and in the future are going to truly showcase how significant this all really is.
Like Bidwell said, how many kids watching are going to grow up wanting to play for Moana just like Savea? Instead of conforming to what a ‘traditional’ career looks like, how many will choose to represent their roots and go against ‘the norm’?
A team that was once an afterthought to many is now arguably the most loved and supported team in the country, all because of one person.
Ardie Savea is a trailblazer and has shown the importance of following your heart and representing your people.
Sport is inspirational, at times it seems almost scripted, and in the case of Ardie Savea, he is rewriting that script.