Former All Blacks World Cup-winning wing Julian Savea has a spot with the Hurricanes in Super Rugby on his horizon for next year.
Called into action by the side's management after the departure of Ben Lam for a contract in France, Savea said he didn't expect the chance to possibly play for the Hurricanes this year.
Savea said he hadn't intended to come back specifically to the Hurricanes, he would have been happy to have played anywhere but now that he had a chance over the last two weeks of the competition he was keen to make the most of it.
While he had been doing some club training he had resisted the urge to play in order to avoid injury and he said the break had probably been the longest he had had in his career.
If the chance was created for him to play at the weekend he would jump at it, he said. But if not selected he would like to play club rugby.
He had been watching Super Rugby Aotearoa with interest.
"It's been the best against the best and I've really enjoyed watching it and to be part of it, possibly, is going to be awesome, I'm looking forward to it," he said.
Should he not get the chance to play for the Hurricanes he was looking to play for Wellington in the Mitre 10 Cup and he was working through that now.
He and his family were keen to stay in New Zealand. They had enjoyed their time overseas but being at home was best for them now.
Playing in France had been a good experience, the weather was good and having the ability to drive for a couple of hours to different places was a different dynamic.
His biggest lesson had been learning to slow down, enjoy life a little and to freshen up mentally.
Playing wise, the physicality had been different and he sported plenty of bruises after every game.
He had enjoyed watching younger brother Ardie's rise to Test status and it had confirmed what he had always believed about how far he could go in the game.