Julian Savea

Savea is joining joining French club Toulon on a two year deal and will leave at the end of the Super Rugby competition.

The 27-year-old has played 54 tests for the All Blacks, scoring 46 tries, putting second on New Zealand's all-time try-scoring list behind only Doug Howlett.

Nick named the Bus Julian Savea made his debut for the All Blacks in 2012 against Ireland but struggled for form and fitness at times with his last test against the British and Irish Lions last year.

Julian Savea confirmed that he'll be leaving New Zealand after Super Rugby wraps up, to take his place mining the seemingly bottomless pit of privately owned club riches in France.

He's off to Toulon, where he'll be able to hopefully play out a number of lucrative seasons. After all, he's only 27 - but that's too old to be an All Black winger these days.

Savea, who is just three short of Doug Howlett's All Blacks record of 49 tries, has not featured for his country since the drawn series against the British and Irish Lions in July.

When asked about switching from union to rugby league, the 27-year-old told newshub.co.nz: "It's always been in the back of my mind."

Savea said he would "definitely think about it" and added he would have to "weigh up the pros and cons and what's best for my family".

"The All Blacks is the end goal but not a real focus at the moment," he added.

Wing Savea appeared in the final Test against the British and Irish Lions on July 8 but was omitted by Steve Hansen for the Rugby Championship and the November internationals.

The 27-year-old has scored 46 tries in 54 Test appearances for the All Blacks – just four away from surpassing Douglas Howlett as the country's most prolific player.

Savea is contracted with New Zealand Rugby until the end of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, though he is seemingly open to switching codes with his place in the national team uncertain.

The master coach wants to see his 27-year-old wing – stranded on the 46-try mark from his 54 tests when he was dropped from the All Blacks mid-year – rediscover his love of the game. He wants to see "the smile" back on the face of the man they call 'The Bus'.

Savea, who was in Auckland on Thursday to undertake promotional duties for February's Brisbane Global Tens which he hopes to use to launch a successful comeback season, says the All Blacks' boss can rest assured on that front.

The 27-year-old has only appeared once for the world champions in 2017, the 15-15 third Test draw at Eden Park.

Surpassed by the likes of Rieko Ioane, Matt Duffie and Waisake Naholo in the left-wing pecking order, Savea has spent the entire second half of the season confined to the Mitre 10 Cup with the Wellington Lions.

Playing a big part in the capitals championship winning performance, Savea said the break from international rugby has rejuvenated him.

"The whole team played well," he told reporters in London.

The right wing will lead the Lions for the first time, when they meet the mighty Canterbury at Westpac Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Wellington wing Stu Wilson once captained the All Blacks on a tour to Britain, but typically skippers are found nearer to the action.

But with No.8, and regular captain, Brad Shields out with a knee injury, Lions coach Chris Gibbes has turned to the team's elder statesmen. The 27-year-old Savea's only played 26 games for Wellington, since his debut in 2010, but he's a man that all the players look up to.

Savea, 27, was dumped from Steve Hansen's All Blacks squad for the Rugby Championship after a less than impressive series against the British and Irish Lions. He was also benched by the Hurricanes for their Super Rugby semifinal against the Lions in Johannesburg - the second straight year he was demoted at the business end of the competition.

Lions coach Chris Gibbes has made six changes to the starting team which beat Taranaki 42-26 on Saturday, for Thursday night's clash with Bay of Plenty in Rotorua. Wellington have three games in a short space of time, so managing resources is critical.

Beyond the changes to the starting side, there's four more in the reserves, including the selection of Filipo. The Petone outside back was sentenced to nine months' supervision for assaulting four people, including two women, in November last year and ordered to attend alcohol counselling and a course on living without violence.

Fifty four test veteran Savea has been dropped by the selectors from the 33-man squad unveiled for the Rugby Championship series which begins with next week's Bledisloe Cup Test against Australia in Sydney.

Savea, the scorer of 46 test tries, has struggled this year, facing the Lions in the third Test only.

He lacked zip with the Hurricanes and was named on the bench for their Super Rugby semi-final loss to South Africa's Lions.