All Blacks loose forward Ardie Savea will skip Super Rugby with Moana Pasifika next year and take a sabbatical in Japan at the Kobe Steelers, New Zealand Rugby (NZR) said on Tuesday.
The former World Rugby Player of the Year, who spent the 2024 Japanese season with the Steelers, will be available for test duty until the end of the November internationals and return in time for the 2026 mid-year tests.
The news will come as a blow to Moana fans after Savea inspired the team to several notable victories and the brink of the Super Rugby Pacific playoffs in his first season at the club this year.
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