Moana Pasifika have pulled off a huge coup ahead of the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season, after enticing All Blacks star and reigning World Rugby Player of the Year Ardie Savea across to the franchise.
Savea will join brother Julian at Moana on a three-year deal, the veteran back-rower opting for a change of scenery instead of a return to the Hurricanes where he had played all his Super Rugby before heading off for this year's sabbatical in Japan.
Tana Umaga's team enjoyed their best season yet and while they failed to reach the playoffs once again, Savea's arrival will thrust them straight into the finals conversation next year - no matter what format is given the green light after Melbourne Rebels' exit.
"I've got massive respect for my Hurricanes family and I loved serving them for 11 years," Savea said in a statement.
"But I think it's the right time for a change and I spent a lot of quiet time with my family thinking about things before making this decision.
"To have this team show the love and support they have for me and my family is special. Knowing that, regardless of anything that might happen, they will look after me and my family - I think that means a lot."
Savea also posted a video message to Instagram announcing his switch, the All Blacks vice-captain pulling on a Moana jersey as he also confirmed he had re-signed with New Zealand Rugby until the end of 2027.
Speaking on Monday, Hurricanes chief executive Avan Lee said his franchise had done everything it could to return Savea to the capital, but also confirmed the 30-year-old had a clause in his contract that allowed him to undertake another sabbatical in 2026.
And while Julian Savea's departure from the Hurricanes was certainly a sore point, Lee said he did not think it was the catalyst behind Ardie's decision to head north to Auckland.
"I think Jules and Ardie are very close. Naturally, they are brothers, but they are also very close,'' Lee said.
"I have made it public that we didn't handle the Julian situation well enough, so I am sure for Ardie that was in the back of his mind. But I don't think that is the reason he has gone to Moana Pasifika.
"From our perspective, he has been away this year, he has got the option to go away in 2026, so he is happy to go to Moana in '25 and '27 and play for the All Blacks for those three years.
"We just wish him all the best. He has been a great Hurricane, and he will always be a legend of our club. We wish him every success.''
Savea is of Samoan descent and the desire to help improve the Pasifika franchise's competitiveness, inspiring younger players of similar ancestry in the process, was a key motivator in his decision to switch franchises.
"It will be huge to give back to my heritage and my culture in such a meaningful way. My brother Julian has told me that this team was made for us so I can't wait to get started," he said.
While they received several heavy defeats still in 2024, Moana registered four wins - their best regular season return to date - but still missed the playoffs by eight points.
The franchise's longer-term future had been the source of ongoing speculation around the time of the Rebels' demise, but Savea's arrival will only further help convince administrators they are worth persisting with.
While the Hurricanes would have loved to bring Savea back to Wellington, their back-row contingent was superb in the absence of the All Blacks No. 8 as they reached the Super Rugby semifinals before being upset at home by the Chiefs.
Rising stars Brayden Iose and Peter Lakai were particularly strong, and ably supported by Du'Plessis Kirifi, veteran Brad Shields and Devan Flanders.
Savea started in each of the All Blacks' wins over England after his return from Japan, but sat out Friday's thrashing of Fiji in San Diego.