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Julian Savea concedes he left New Zealand 'too early' as he reflects on career

By Kim Ekin
(Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)

All Black Julian Savea is set to bring up his 150th game for the Hurricanes, a significant milestone which has been achieved over two stints with the club.

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The man known as ‘The Bus’ in the nation’s capital debuted in 2011 for the Hurricanes and spent eight seasons there before taking up a deal in France in 2018 with Toulon.

On return to New Zealand in 2020, Savea returned to the Wellington Lions for the NPC before signing with the Hurricanes for 2021 where he has played since for three more seasons.

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Reflecting on what has been a long career in New Zealand rugby, Savea didn’t hold regrets but would’ve stay longer if he had the chance to re-do it.

“In all seriousness, I have no regrets,” Savea told Newshub.

“For me, the only thing is I probably would have loved to stay here and left here after 2019, instead of leaving in 2018.

“I just feel like I left too early, that’s all.”

Savea’s form in 2015 as part of the World Cup-winning All Blacks side was devastating, taking the world by storm at the showpiece event and scoring a hat-trick against France in the quarter-final.

However he didn’t get the chance to attend a second World Cup in 2019 having left New Zealand and in the process becoming ineligible for selection.

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The third Test against the British & Irish Lions in 2017 is currently his last in the black jersey.

The 54-Test All Black scored 46 tries at international level, just three shy of Doug Howlett’s record of 49.

On his rocky stint in France with Toulon, Savea said he had plans to go back after an enjoyable lifestyle experience off the pitch.

“It wasn’t the best experience, but I wouldn’t say it was bad,” he said of his Toulon stint.

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“The lifestyle, the people and the culture I got to experience was awesome.

“They did run things a little bit different over there, but you’ve just got to adapt. That’s not to say I didn’t have the best time there, because I did.

“My family, we really enjoyed our time and our experience there, we made a lot of friends over there. We’re definitely looking to go back and visit those guys.”

Returning to the Hurricanes set up has allowed Savea to continue to become one of the most capped player’s in the club’s history.

He also sits just two tries shy of Israel Folau’s Super Rugby record of 60, with 58.

He is in a race to break the record with teammate TJ Perenara, who is also the club’s most capped player with 151 .

“It’s special, for me anyway, to get 150,” he said of the milestone.

“To play one game is awesome, I remember when I started, it was a dream come true.

“I’m not sure if you remember the backline, but I was taken back by the star power we had in 2011.

“To finally get here, and come back from France and get to a milestone like this is pretty special.”

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J
Jon 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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