Why All Blacks great Kirwan disagrees with Savea's shock move to Moana Pasifika

All Blacks No. 8 sent shockwaves through Super Rugby Pacific with Sunday's announcement he'd signed on with Moana Pasifika on a three-year deal from 2025.

After a decade in the yellow and black, Savea will part ways with the Hurricanes, citing his desire to represent his Samoan heritage and reunite with his brother Julian Savea with the Auckland-based newcomers.

Despite Savea's absence on sabbatical in Japan last season, the Hurricanes - under new coach Clark Laidlaw - surged to a first-place finish in the competition's regular season standings, before being ousted by the Chiefs in the semi-final.

Their performance instilled a newfound belief in the fanbase, who would have been daydreaming of what Savea's return would add next season.

Instead, the reigning World Rugby Player of the Year will take his talents to one of Super Rugby's strugglers – Moana Pasifika finished above only the Waratahs in 2024, with just four wins to their name.

While the shift has been widely praised for Savea's willingness to make such a sacrifice for the betterment of Pasifika rugby, All Blacks great Sir John Kirwan is among those left perplexed by the move.

"I don't know if I agree with it," Sir John told SENZ Breakfast.

"I think it's great for Ardie and he'll get to play with his brother and I think that's pretty cool, but I don't really understand it as a move. I think that I was hoping he might go to the Highlanders or something like that."

From a developmental standpoint, Kirwan says he appreciates the positive impact it will have on the talented loose forward group at the Canes, which includes the likes of rapidly rising Peter Lakai and Brayden Iose, where there'll be more minutes for them to continue their rapid growth.

But for Savea from a personal standpoint, he's struggling to see the benefits, questioning what the side effects the habitual losing with Moana Pasifika may have on his psyche and overall game.

"It does free up a position for those three young guys, Iose and Lakai and the boys down there in Wellington that went incredibly well last year," he noted.

"So, Wellington people won't miss a beat because they've already had a year without him. I just thought it was a really interesting move for Ardie.

"I love Moana. I think them and the Drua are what we need for our rugby and what we need for international rugby to get better was Samoa, Tonga and Fiji. I think we've already seen that (impact), maybe not so much with Fiji on the weekend but during the World Cup.

"But is it going to be harder on Ardie if Moana don't perform again and they're losing every week?

"I think it's a great PR move, for want of a better word - the people will love it and it's a really nice thing to do.

"But from a performance point of view, I thought it was a really interesting decision."

Listen to the full interview: