Boks Office: Thoroughbred Savea has workhorses to thank for insane figures

After easing his way into the year with a couple of below-par performances by his own very high standards in the Test series against England, Ardie Savea is now showing the sort of form that saw him crowned the best player on the planet in 2023.

The rampaging No.8 has been the All Blacks’ standout performer in two of their last three Tests, scoring 9/10 in the 47-5 win over Fiji in San Diego and in the 42-10 win over Argentina. Even in the 38-30 defeat the week before, Savea was one of the few players to truly carry the fight to Los Pumas.

Impressively, he’s averaging more tries, carries and defenders beaten per 80 minutes on the park this year than last, and his tackle success rate has also shot up. England’s Ben Earl is his only peer when it comes to carries and defenders beaten in 2024.

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At Eden Park, Savea scored New Zealand’s second try – and his 27th in Test rugby – as they stretched their remarkable unbeaten record at the Auckland citadel to 50 matches. In doing so, he equalled Richie McCaw’s record for most tries by an All Blacks forward in the process.

New Zealand have fielded three different back row combinations to date in 2024, but Savea has been a virtual ever-present presence at the back of the pack throughout the five matches, the All Blacks talisman only missing the last 25 minutes of the Fiji game.

Speaking on the latest episode of Boks Office ahead of the crunch Rugby Championship showdown with the world champion Springboks in Johannesburg on August 31st, former South African flanker Schalk Burger believes the key to Savea’s form has been the work rate of the two players either side of him.

While Samipeni Finau and Luke Jacobson have been tried at blindside, Ethan Blackadder has worn the number six jersey in the last two Tests alongside Dalton Papali’i at seven and Savea at eight.

“I like what they have done with the loose forwards, with Ethan Blackadder as a workhorse for them, the same with Papali’I; what that does for them is it frees up Savea so Savea can sort of roam and carry in unusual places and chase box kicks and stuff, where the other two guys have a proper work ethic,” stated Burger,

While Savea’s name was prominent in discussions about the biggest threats posed by the All Blacks, Burger flagged a different player as the one the Springboks will have to stop if they are to maintain their winning run in The Rugby Championship.

Responding to Jean de Villiers’ comment that Jordie Barrett is “just so solid”, Burger said: “I think biggest key (player), for me, is Jordie.”