Savea's return a big lift for Hurricanes
Evans looking forward to working under new breakdown emphasis
All Blacks loose forward Ardie Savea's return to the Hurricanes in time for Super Rugby Aotearoa is one of the few benefits to be had from the Coronavirus pandemic.
It had been expected he would be out for a good portion of the regular Super Rugby season after the leg injury he suffered during last year's Rugby World Cup in Japan.
But the enforced break due to the shutdown in New Zealand, he had caught up some time and was able to ease back into training with the Hurricanes as the opportunity became available.
Fellow loose forward Gareth Evans said Savea's return was welcomed by the side. He had brought a sense of excitement back and some leadership as well which made it good to work with him on the training field.
There had been no suggestion of how the loose forward trio might look for their opening game but Evans was confident the respective utility value of both of them would be of benefit in the selection process.
Evans said there was an appreciation among the players that they didn't realise what they had until it was taken away from them, resulting in a sense of excitement a week out from their first game back.
And with the prospect of the country going to level one next week which would allow the public to attend games, Evans said it would be great for the players, but also for their fans who had been denied their diet of rugby as well.
There would also be benefits from playing in the afternoons on Sundays which meant there were no concerns about playing in the dew in evenings as in the Saturday games, and the light would be much more natural.
It also meant there was less time to be killed preparing for play on game days.
"Instead of getting anxious, you just get out there and get it done," he said.
Evans felt Dan Carter's return to New Zealand rugby for the Blues was a great story and something that could only be good for the game.
"I'm stoked for him, it's good to have him back in New Zealand and playing the game. I can't wait," he said.
Having had injury frustrations with an injured calf last year, he felt he had come back well in 2020 and while the side had a couple of upset losses early on they were starting to gel well when the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to everything.