Julian Savea

Savea, who scored 46 tries in 54 tests for the All Blacks between 2012 and 2017, announced his signing on social media on Wednesday morning.

On September 2 it was confirmed that the 33-year-old had parted ways with the Hurricanes, the franchise he represented for a total of 11 seasons over two separate periods.

His first stint with the Wellington-based franchise started in 2011, and he remained with it through to 2018 season before joining French club Toulon.

Savea, who scored 46 tries in 54 Test matches for the All Blacks, will run out for his 150th appearance in Hurricanes colours later this week.

The man who is famously known as ‘The Bus’ holds a special place in the history of both New Zealand Rugby and the All Blacks.

Savea played a key role in the Rugby World Cup triumph in 2015, and the Hurricanes’ maiden Super Rugby title a year later.

The Lions will be hoping to bounce back after suffering a 34 – 18 loss to Hawke’s Bay a week ago, which also cost them a chance at the Ranfurly Shield.

Head coach, Leo Crowley, says whilst the team was disappointed at that result, this week poses new challenges and so they have had to bury the hatchet and move on.

“The mindset this week is to beat Manawatu and remain in the premiership. It can be nothing else. This competition is so tight you can be near the top one week and bottom the next,” he said.

The 30-year-old has been playing for French club Toulon since 2018 but made the move home with his family in May.

Since his return, Savea has played one game of club rugby for Oriental-Rongotai and was contracted as injury cover for the Hurricanes during the last two weeks of Super Rugby. He has now said he is elated about getting back into the Lions jersey full-time.

Now, the 30-year-old hopes to earn a fulltime contract with his former side for next year but first, he’ll have to prove himself in the Mitre 10 Cup.

Savea last featured for the Wellington Lions in 2017 when he took over as interim captain as the side fought their way back into the Premiership division.

A lot as changed for Savea in the last three years – including his position of choice.

Savea completed a busy 80 minutes at second five-eighth for his childhood club Oriental-Rongotai as they went down 20-15 to Poneke at Kilbirnie Park in Wellington on Saturday afternoon.

The hitout was Savea’s first in New Zealand since leaving for France in 2018. Since then he returned home in May and signed a short-term replacement contract with the Hurricanes for the remainder of Super Rugby Aotearoa which finishes next week.

The 30-year-old carried strongly and looked fit and trim in his return to action.

Savea has joined his Hurricanes teammates in camp, following his return to the franchise. The last time the man nicknamed ‘The Bus’ played for them was in the 2018 semi-final against the Crusaders.

He spent the last two European rugby seasons with Toulon in the French Top 14, before departing in March.

Savea says he initially reached out to the Canes when returning to New Zealand, who hold a special place in his heart having spent his entire provincial career in Wellington.

“I would love to [stay], but it’s out of my hands at the moment,” he said.

Savea’s current deal is set to expire in the summer, and despite continuing to feature regularly for the Top14 side, a series of underwhelming performances seems to have led the club to the decision that the player is not worth his lucrative wages.

A report in RMC Sport states that Toulon are willing to offload the 54-cap All Black in order to free up some space in their squad.

Savea joined Toulon from the Hurricanes in 2018, but has failed to make the desired impact at the French club.

Former Hurricanes outside back Cory Jane, who is renowned for being a joker, got the hopes of some fans up on Saturday. 

With the five Kiwi franchises set to reveal their final few signings on Tuesday night, Jane seized on the opportunity to prank fans into thinking Savea, who played 116 games for the Canes between 2011-2018, was leaving Toulon and returning home. 

"Gotta let the cat out of the bag but can't wait to see you (@juliansavea7) back with the Canes this season," he tweeted. 

Now playing in France for Toulon, Savea is familiar with the Islamic community, with his wife Fatima a practising Muslim, even observing Ramadan to learn more about the culture.

Taking to Twitter, the 28-year old spoke about his heartbreak at the events from last Friday.

"I've been privileged enough to learn about Islam through my wife's family, especially her grandparents," Savea wrote.

"They've been to Mecca twice, they pray 5 times a day, they encouraged me to fast during Ramadan and taught me what it means to be a Muslim.