'Rugby's biggest star': Blues win race to sign All Blacks captain Ardie Savea

All Blacks captain Ardie Savea has fended off interest from other parties and signed a one-season Super Rugby Pacific deal with the Blues.The 32-year-old ended speculation over his allegiance on Friday, announcing his move on a live YouTube stream describing it as the "last dance".He had earlier attempted to build the tension by appearing in various Super Rugby jerseys, first wearing the Highlanders colours, then the Chiefs, the Blues, the Crusaders and Hurricanes, saying he was "just trying them out for size... and seeing how they look".Explaining his unorthodox announcement, Savea told the more than 1900 watching the stream: "With me being injured, I thought I'd change it up and do something different."Blues chief executive Karl Budge told RNZ: "It's going to be transformational for us and it probably epitomises the change we're trying to go through at the Blues."We want to play an incredibly attacking style of rugby that's attractive and gets people wanting to come along and watch the best of rugby."But, equally important, I think he's going to help us connect with fans that we've not been able to do before. He is rugby's biggest star and I think we can really leverage that connection and embrace it and let him really push us into being a modern fan-first organisation."Budge, asked whether he was hopeful Savea could extend his one-year deal, added: "I'll keep close to Ardie - it's been an awesome conversation from our very first meeting."We really hit it off and are really aligned around fandom, the future of rugby and what organisations like ours need to be. I think there's a lot of trust between us and there's a lot of trust with [head coach] Jason Holland and Ardie, and he's got some of his best mates like Rieko [Ioane] lining up alongside him."The ingredients are there. If we can do our job and make sure this is a really prosperous time for him, then who knows where it may go next?"Savea is only contracted to New Zealand Rugby until after next year's World Cup in Australia so any extension at the Blues would require a larger body of work; a return to Japanese club Kobelco Steelers is also a possibility.Savea, named as All Blacks captain this year by incoming head coach Dave Rennie, comes to the Blues via a season at Moana Pasifika, where he was at his inspirational best, and a short stint under Rennie at the Steelers, where the pair won a championship this year.Moana Pasifika's demise this year sparked a contest for the loose forward's services and there was little surprise that he settled for the Blues, based in Auckland, given his establishment in the city and proximity to brother Julian, the former All Blacks wing. Julian also appeared - remotely - on Ardie's livestream, along with Crusaders and All Blacks prop Tamaiti Williams and former All Black Lima Sopoaga.Ardie Savea scores one of his two tries against South Africa before his injury in the third test in Soweto last month.Muzi Ntombela/ PHOTOSPORTHe will play an important on-field role for the side, coached for the first time by Holland, the former All Blacks assistant who has joined from the Hurricanes, but just as important will be his influence off the field, especially via his high profile and connection with fans, young and old, around the country but also the world.However, Savea, who has played 112 tests, will not play until February at the earliest due to his recent surgery on a dislocated shoulder suffered during the third test loss to the Springboks in Soweto. His injury, suffered in a ruck cleanout, came after he scored two first-half tries for the All Blacks.Savea's decision will come as a disappointment in particular to fans of the Hurricanes after his 131 appearances for the franchise across a decade.It is clear that Savea will be given room to develop his growing personal brand and social media influence and he will play an important role in the development of fellow Blues loose forwards Anton Segner and rising talents Malachi Wrampling and Torian Barnes in the wake of the departures of the experienced Dalton Papali'i and Hoskins Sotutu.His combination with the versatile Segner will be especially interesting. The German-born Segner, 25, was outstanding in the recent series against the Springboks and was pushing hard for a test role before suffering an ankle issue which resulted in his departure from South Africa.