All Blacks captain Ardie Savea's next club revealed

A fresh report from The Post has strengthened speculation that the back-row superstar could make Auckland his next Super Rugby home.

The move remains unconfirmed, but the Blues have emerged as a potential destination for one of the biggest names in world rugby.

The report’s “when, rather than if” framing suggests a deal could be moving closer, although that falls short of an official signing announcement.

Landing Savea would represent a huge recruitment statement for the Blues, adding explosive carrying, breakdown quality and international leadership to their pack.

For Savea, it would mark another significant chapter after his time with the Hurricanes, Moana Pasifika and Japan’s Kobe Steelers.

Savea’s existing New Zealand Rugby agreement runs through 2027.

He joined Moana Pasifika for the 2025 campaign before activating a sabbatical clause to return to Kobe for the 2026 season.

A Blues switch would determine his Super Rugby destination ahead of the World Cup. It would not automatically mean his contract extends beyond 2027, with the length of any new agreement still to be confirmed.

The Blues links make Savea’s future a major transfer talking point as preparations build towards Australia.

However, neither a completed move nor its terms should be treated as confirmed until an official announcement follows.

Have your say: Would joining the Blues be the right move for Ardie Savea?

function getCountryUnicodeFlag(countryCode) { return countryCode.toUpperCase().replace(/./g, (char) => String.fromCodePoint(char.charCodeAt(0) + 127397)) };

// HTML sanitization function to prevent XSS function sanitizeHtml(str) { if (typeof str !== 'string') return ''; return str .replace(/&/g, '&') .replace(//g, '>') .replace(/"/g, '"') .replace(/'/g, ''') .replace(/\//g, '/'); }

// URL sanitization function to prevent javascript: and data: URLs function sanitizeUrl(url) { if (typeof url !== 'string') return ''; const trimmedUrl = url.trim().toLowerCase(); if (trimmedUrl.startsWith('javascript:') || trimmedUrl.startsWith('data:') || trimmedUrl.startsWith('vbscript:')) { return '#'; } return url; }

const getBrowserLanguage = () => { if (!window?.navigator?.language?.split('-')[1]) { return window?.navigator?.language?.toUpperCase(); } return window?.navigator?.language?.split('-')[1]; };

// getBrowserLanguageCode() and getSmsProgramForCountryAndLanguage() are provided globally // by the external mc-sms-phone.js script loaded alongside this inline form script.

function getDefaultCountryProgram(defaultCountryCode, smsProgramData) { if (!smsProgramData || smsProgramData.length === 0) { return null; } var browserCountryCode = getBrowserLanguage(); var browserLangCode = getBrowserLanguageCode(); if (browserCountryCode) { var match = getSmsProgramForCountryAndLanguage(smsProgramData, browserCountryCode, browserLangCode); if (match) { return match; } } if (defaultCountryCode) { var match = getSmsProgramForCountryAndLanguage(smsProgramData, defaultCountryCode, browserLangCode); if (match) { return match; } } return smsProgramData[0]; }

function updateSmsLegalText(countryCode, fieldName) { if (!countryCode || !fieldName) { return; } var programs = window?.MC?.smsPhoneData?.programs; if (!programs || !Array.isArray(programs)) { return; } var browserLangCode = getBrowserLanguageCode(); var program = getSmsProgramForCountryAndLanguage(programs, countryCode, browserLangCode); if (!program || !program.requiredTemplate) { return; }

var smsConsentHtmlRenderingFixEnabled = true;

const legalTextElement = document.querySelector('#legal-text-' + fieldName); if (!legalTextElement) { return; }

const divRegex = new RegExp(']*>', 'gi'); const blockWrapperRegex = new RegExp(']*>', 'gi'); const fullAnchorRegex = new RegExp('>', 'g'); const anchorRegex = new RegExp('(.*?)');

const template = smsConsentHtmlRenderingFixEnabled ? program.requiredTemplate .replace(/<\ />>\s*]*>/gi, ' ') .replace(blockWrapperRegex, '') : program.requiredTemplate.replace(divRegex, '');

legalTextElement.textContent = ''; const parts = template.split(/(.*?<\ />>)/g); parts.forEach(function(part) { if (!part) { return; } const anchorMatch = part.match(/(.+?)<\ />>/); if (anchorMatch) { const linkElement = document.createElement('a'); linkElement.href = sanitizeUrl(anchorMatch[1]); linkElement.target = anchorMatch[2] ? sanitizeHtml(anchorMatch[2]) : '_blank'; linkElement.rel = 'noopener noreferrer'; linkElement.textContent = sanitizeHtml(anchorMatch[3]); legalTextElement.appendChild(linkElement); } else { legalTextElement.appendChild(document.createTextNode(part)); } });

}

function generateDropdownOptions(smsProgramData) { if (!smsProgramData || smsProgramData.length === 0) { return ''; }

var programs = true ? smsProgramData.filter(function(p, i, arr) { return arr.findIndex(function(q) { return q.countryCode === p.countryCode; }) === i; }) : smsProgramData;

return programs.map(program => { const flag = getCountryUnicodeFlag(program.countryCode); const countryName = getCountryName(program.countryCode); const callingCode = program.countryCallingCode || ''; // Sanitize all values to prevent XSS const sanitizedCountryCode = sanitizeHtml(program.countryCode || ''); const sanitizedCountryName = sanitizeHtml(countryName || ''); const sanitizedCallingCode = sanitizeHtml(callingCode || ''); return '' + sanitizedCountryName + ' ' + sanitizedCallingCode + ''; }).join(''); }

function getCountryName(countryCode) { if (window.MC?.smsPhoneData?.smsProgramDataCountryNames && Array.isArray(window.MC.smsPhoneData.smsProgramDataCountryNames)) { for (let i = 0; i