Hurricanes coach Jason Holland lifts lid on Ardie Savea fitness - and the possible return of Julian Savea
Hurricanes coach Jason Holland says there’s a “good chance” star loose forward Ardie Savea would be ready for his rugby return against the Blues, but is taking a cautious approach with his players as they gear up for the start of next month’s Super Rugby Aotearoa.
Savea has been recovering from knee surgery after suffering an injury in the All Blacks‘ World Cup semifinal loss to England last year – and has been slowly working his way back to fitness since.
Savea’s rehab schedule has been interrupted by weeks of lockdown, but Holland says he is optimistic that the 26-year-old will be back for the Hurricanes’ return to the field against the Blues on June 14.
“It’s a good chance,” Holland said after the team’s first full training on Monday. “Although with Ards, it’s not massively important if it doesn’t happen if it’s not the absolute right thing for him to do.
“He was due to be back by now, if we didn’t have Covid, around that bye week which was couple of weeks ago. Obviously he’s missed a lot of work in the meantime.”
Like Savea, Holland said the rest of the squad will also be managed closely, with training intensity and contact to be built up slowly to avoid injuries after the prolonged break.
“With everyone, we’ve got four weeks. So we’ll take our time with Ards and in two weeks’ time we’ll have a better idea whether he’s ready to go. But he had a smile on his face out there and he was doing everything with the boys.
“The boys were in great form when they came in. The banter is flowing. Everyone is just relieved and grateful that we have the opportunity to come back in and do what we love.”
Savea was a revelation for the All Blacks last year – showcasing his dominance in the ruck and rampaging running power from all three loose forward positions.
However, Holland believes Savea is best suited as a No 8, which may very well be where he starts under new All Blacks coach Ian Foster, with Sam Cane likely securing the No 7 jersey as newly announced captain.
Star All Blacks lock Scott Barrett has put pen to paper to re-commit his services to New Zealand Rugby in a multi-year deal.https://t.co/4LOZ7e7l0z
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 19, 2020
“Personally I’m a big fan of Ardie as an eight,” Holland said. “I think it suits his game, he can get his hands on the ball a lot more, being the massive carrier he is.
“By the same token, with the way we approached the first part of the year with our 9s and 10s, we want a bit of flexibility to start and finish games in a certain way. That’ll be no different with Ards and his ability to play eight and seven is going to be massive for us.”
Another possible returning player to the Hurricanes squad could be Ardie’s older brother Julian Savea, who expressed interest in joining his old side after ending his time with Toulon in France.
While there isn’t any scope for the Hurricanes to add Julian to their squad right now, Holland said he’ll be keeping in touch with the former All Blacks winger over the next few weeks.
“I’ve had a quick chat to Jules just as a mate really and said good day and found out what he’s up to. We’ll keep talking around that but at the moment we’ve got no injuries. So there’s no scope as far as I’m aware unless you’ve got injuries. It’ll be interesting to have some conversations in the next few weeks.”
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