NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport

Chris Rattue: Why Ardie Savea needs to switch from rugby to league as soon as possible

Chris Rattue
By Chris Rattue
Sports Writer·NZ Herald·
26 Feb, 2020 02:00 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Ardie Savea. Photo / Photosport

Ardie Savea. Photo / Photosport

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

COMMENT:

I'm not surprised All Black crowd favourite Ardie Savea sounds sick of rugby and is thinking about playing league.

League is a very simple game but at least you get a chance to grab the ball and have a bit of a run around, pass it to your mates now and then, and get in a few big hits.

League has its own limitations, of course. But at least in rugby league, players are given the playing conditions to do the things they have trained for.

Its comparative simplicity is what footy is all about to kids who dream of growing up to be an All Black.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

League must look like a load of fun to Savea, who is among the most energetic blokes in rugby union these days.

READ MORE:
• Chris Rattue: New Zealand cricket coverage puts rugby to shame
• Chris Rattue: A three-point plan to fix rugby in New Zealand
• Chris Rattue: The All Black rifts which led to Steve Hansen's silent treatment call
• Chris Rattue: The fools who killed Super Rugby

Because the most common sight on a rugby union field is confusion.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Penalised props haul themselves off the ground looking at the referee like they've seen a poltergeist while their marker giggles in delight, having pulled the wool over the official's eyes.

Seconds later a loose forward who has spent 10 years turning his body into a mass of power and expertise dives into a dangerous trench, fights for the ball while keeping three behemoths at bay, only to find the referee accusing him of not holding his own weight.

Discover more

All Blacks

All Blacks bombshell: Superstar's shock plan to quit rugby

24 Feb 02:20 AM
All Blacks

Why Ardie Savea is considering a move to league

24 Feb 10:05 PM
All Blacks

Gregor Paul: Rugby will lose more than a star player if Ardie Savea walks

24 Feb 11:30 PM
All Blacks

Savea reveals the day Kieran Read won over All Blacks dressing room

25 Feb 04:16 AM

Meanwhile, a linesman who is only supporting the weight of a flag fails to notice that an entire defensive line is offside.

The TV commentators, who are supposed to unravel all of this for the punters, haven't got a clue what's going on so talk a load of gibberish, while people at the ground make wild guesses.

In all honesty, a lot of the referees give the impression that they are making it up as well and who can blame them with that rule book?

That's when they aren't trying to explain some of the rules to players who would need a laser tool to get all their angles right.

Ardie Savea in action for the All Blacks at the Rugby World Cup. Photo / INPHO/ James Crombie
Ardie Savea in action for the All Blacks at the Rugby World Cup. Photo / INPHO/ James Crombie

It must be an infuriating game to play. All that effort during the week ends up like film on the cutting-room floor.

Every time a ball of energy like Savea gets the ball, he's already surrounded by what must feel like 200 opponents. And heaven help him if he gets into clear air.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Because the worst thing you can do in rugby union these days is make a clean break, something which leaves the ball carrier isolated and almost guaranteed to lose the ball to a turnover or penalty.

A sport which used to celebrate Phil Bennett's sidestep and David Campese's goose step is left lauding tackle counts.

Here's a question: when's the last time you saw a rugby player make a thrilling long run, the way Christian Cullen used to do every week? Sweeping moves have been swept away.

In a way, rugby has become rugby league, without the space. It's even stolen the cross-field kick from league, with brilliant playmakers like Richard Mo'unga reduced to kicking the ball to their wings because there's no room to run.

As thanks for their efforts, the players either play 10 months of the year or miss some of their teams' campaigns. Some of them are told to come off at halftime in February, so they are fit enough to play in November.

Player power is starting to take over and a lot of those players have had enough.

Ageing and not so ageing New Zealand players flock to Europe or Japan where they play boring or inferior rugby just to make an extra buck. That's how much they enjoy the sport.

It also gets them away from the clutches of New Zealand Rugby, which based their business model and attitude towards their star employees on the values of the Kremlin.

Rugby league is far from perfect but unlike rugby, it is not obsessed with penalising imperfections.

So go Ardie. Make the move as quick as you can, before your spirit and body are broken.

You would make a terrific league forward or even a centre. And you'll have a ball.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Sport

Black Caps

Devon Conway recalled for T20 tri-series after injury strikes Black Caps

13 Jul 09:18 AM
Sport

Black Sox looking for eighth win at Softball World Cup

13 Jul 08:11 AM
Warriors

The Warriors show out at home against the Tigers

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Devon Conway recalled for T20 tri-series after injury strikes Black Caps

Devon Conway recalled for T20 tri-series after injury strikes Black Caps

13 Jul 09:18 AM

The Black Caps' T20 tri-series against South Africa and Zimbabwe kicks off next week.

Black Sox looking for eighth win at Softball World Cup

Black Sox looking for eighth win at Softball World Cup

13 Jul 08:11 AM
The Warriors show out at home against the Tigers

The Warriors show out at home against the Tigers

Sam Ruthe breaks NZ records in LA

Sam Ruthe breaks NZ records in LA

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP