Auckland coach warns that time is running out for Julian Savea's Mitre 10 Cup aspirations
Former All Blacks star Julian Savea has been warned by Auckland Mitre 10 Cup coach Alama Ieremia that time is running out if he wants to commit to play for the province in this season’s campaign.
Savea has returned to New Zealand following a two-year stint in France’s Top 14 competition with Toulon, signing a two-week deal as injury cover for the Hurricanes towards the end of Super Rugby Aotearoa.
While he didn’t take to the field for the franchise he made 116 appearances for between 2011 and 2018, the 30-year-old played club rugby in Wellington for Oriental Rongotai last month.
Despite his ties to the Wellington region, Savea is now living in Auckland where his partner’s family resides, and has spoken recently of his desire to play for a province within the area.
Three Mitre 10 Cup sides – Auckland, North Harbour and Counties Manukau – exist within the city, but North Harbour have already named their squad for the 2020 season, which kicks off in under three weeks.
That has already diminished playing options for Savea, leaving Ieremia to urge the 54-test All Black to come to a consensus about where he wants to play.
“We connected when he arrived home, but that was back in the original lockdown,” Ieremia told Newshub. “He has to make his mind up about where he wants to play, so that’s probably a question for him.
“He just needs to tell us when he has his mind made up, because we are pretty happy where our squad is at.”
During his time in both France and Wellington club rugby, Savea has been deployed in the midfield at No. 12, despite making a name for himself and playing most of his career on the wing.
The 2015 World Cup winner and 2016 Super Rugby champion has spoken about his newfound preference to play in the midfield rather than on the wing, but Ieremia told Newshub his midfield ambitions might not be realised with Auckland.
“I know he said he wants to play No. 12, but playing midfield in club rugby is a little different to Mitre 10 Cup, so we will see.”
With a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in New Zealand, Auckland has been the hardest hit city in the country as it continues to endure a level three lockdown.
That has forced the cancellation of two pre-season games while another, scheduled for September 4, is in significant doubt.
That leaves Auckland facing the prospect of kicking off their Mitre 10 Cup campaign against Otago in Dunedin on September 12 without having played any rugby beforehand.
However, Ieremia hopes his side can congregate and train together before September 6, when the entire country may be back to level one restrictions.
“We are just looking for some clarity around what that looks like in terms of training and the numbers of players we are allowed.
“There are protocols around health and safety, so we just need to get our head around that, but we realise there are more important things going on at the moment around the country.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Brayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
5 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to comments