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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.
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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.
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“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.
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“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
Wow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
1 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
13 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
1 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
1 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
16 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
16 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
4 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
16 Go to comments