All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie is considering delaying Ardie Savea's involvement in the South African leg of New Zealand's August tour as part of a broader workload management plan for his captain.
Savea led the All Blacks to a 34-32 win over France in their Nations Championship opener in Christchurch last weekend and will captain the side again against Italy in Wellington this Saturday, with the third Nations Championship Test against Ireland in Auckland following on July 18. New Zealand then head to South Africa in early August for provincial warm-up matches against the Stormers, Sharks and Bulls before three Rugby Championship Tests against the Springboks — twice in Johannesburg and once in Cape Town — and a fourth Test in Baltimore on September 12.
Rennie, who coached Savea at the Kobelco Kobe Steelers before taking charge of the All Blacks, said the cumulative workload is a genuine consideration. "We've certainly talked long-term about Ardie. He's been going for a lot of months. Obviously, we managed him very well in Kobe to make sure he could come back and be ready to go in this series. The plan is we'll play him in these three Tests and we might delay his start in Africa. We'll make a call on that in the next week or so."
Savea played the full 80 minutes against France despite a pre-match scare during a defensive drill, where a nerve issue in his groin temporarily numbed his thigh. He recovered quickly and completed the match.
For the Italy fixture, Rennie has made five changes to his starting XV. Savea and Luke Jacobson retain their places in the back row, with Wallace Sititi replacing Peter Lakai at blindside. Uncapped Blues back-rower Anton Segner is in line to come off the bench, potentially for his Test debut, which could allow Savea an extended rest period before the Springbok series kicks off in Johannesburg on August 23.