Savea signs for Lions

NEWS: The Wellington Lions have confirmed that former captain Julian Savea will return to the side for the 2020 Mitre 10 Cup.

Savea, 30, returned to New Zealand with his family in May this year after being with French club Toulon since 2018

The All Black wing was contracted as injury cover for the Hurricanes during the last two weeks of Super Rugby and since his return, he has played one game of club rugby for Oriental-Rongotai.

“Really excited to announce I’m coming back home to where it all began. To be able to put this jersey on means the world to me and to be back home with the brothers, representing Wellington is an honour and a privilege,” said Savea.

The Bus is back in business 🚍https://t.co/7EazdzRqeQ

— Mitre 10 Cup (@Mitre10Cup) August 25, 2020

It’s been a while since Savea pulled on the green and yellow strip for the first time – his debut dating back to August 2010. That was the start of an illustrious career which saw the wing score 15 tries over 32 starts for the side.

In 2015, Savea became an international superstar after playing a crucial role in the All Blacks team which won at the World Cup.

Two years later, he captained the Lions to a championship win against Bay of Plenty, resulting in the promotion of Wellington back into the Premier Division.

“The boys are stoked to have Jules back this year. He’s an amazing player who has achieved nearly everything there is to achieve in the game,” said 2019 Wellington Lions captain, Du’Plessis Kirifi.

“You have got boys coming out of high school and club rugby who are playing Mitre 10 Cup for the first time, so to have someone of this calibre floating around presents awesome opportunity to learn.”

The full Wellington Lions squad for the 2020 season will be released on Friday.

NZ Herald & @RugbyPass