After a frustrating season derailed by a knee injury, Ardie Savea seeing his name in an All Blacks line-up means a little bit more than usual this week.
Savea missed most of the Super Rugby action this year after hurting his left knee and despite a brief return with the Hurricanes towards the end of the trans-Tasman competition, he left the field again in pain during his club's final game against the Reds.
"The MCL, I did against the Crusaders," Savea recalled to media today.
"I took a bang on it against the Reds and then I've been recovering since then but it's come good - hopefully."
While out, Savea admitted he was impatient to return but managed to find some positives.
"I've been battling a little bit with the knee and trying to rush it a little bit with myself," he said.
"But I just trusted the process... I just found passion in the little things - training again, running around with the boys; that stuff has been really refreshing."
The injury saw Savea miss the first two All Blacks Tests this year against Tonga and Fiji but with the knee "hopefully" back to full strength, he's been handed the No.7 jersey for this week's Test in Hamilton.
Savea has been typically used at No.8 by the All Blacks with regular captain Sam Cane owning the openside role, but none of that matters to the 27-year-old for this Saturday.
"It's just nice to put on the black jersey again," he said.
"For me, it's a matter of wherever I am, to put on that jersey is always special.
"I'm just grateful man."
Uplifting 'Pacific brothers' a fulfilling experience
The All Blacks said a highlight from playing Tonga and Fiji has been seeing teammates swap jerseys and share kava after matches.
Another reason this weekend's Test in Hamilton will be special for the 49-Test All Black will be who he's up against.
Savea, a longtime advocate for Pacific rugby, said it was great to see the likes of Samoa, Tonga and this week's opponent Fiji all getting Tests in July.
"It gets my heart and my soul pounding watching Samoa playing against the Māoris or us playing against Tonga and Fiji - it's pretty special," he said.
Along with the on-field experience the Pacific nations gain, Savea said there's also off-field experiences his teammates get to embrace as well.
"What I take the most out of the games is when we connect afterwards and I see the lads swapping jerseys and sharing a bit of kava.
"I'm fond of the Island brothers and getting to uplift them because I know deep down if those teams are firing then our game as a whole in the world becomes a spectacle and a lot more people want to watch it."
It does come with a bruising consequence though.
"They're physical boys and big men," Savea said with a smile.
"But they're a challenge we like to walk towards."
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