A young Julian Savea 'had to carry a passport' to games to prove his age
Julian Savea has played like a man amongst boys throughout his career, the winger’s physicality was a generational X-factor and helped him become one of the most lethal finishers the game has seen.
Long before the 54-Test All Black was bumping off players at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, he was bumping off kids a lot older than him in the schoolyard.
Savea’s development was miles ahead of kids his age, to the point where his mother had to carry his birth certificate for any parents who thought her son was cheating.
Savea himself says he carried a passport in case questions arose due to his size.
“I’m not sure exactly how tall I was but I was a big boy,” Savea recalled for the NZR+ Origins series. “I think I played under 13s for like, four years. So I had to carry a passport just because the parents didn’t believe that I was still under 13s.”
Savea says he “was a big boy playing under sevens”, but struggled to enjoy the game because his eye was always on the older kids’ game.
As a youngster of course there is no tackling in the game until you reach a certain age, but Savea hated having to play touch so he took the field with the older kids.
“I remember I kept tackling kids and injuring them because I wanted to play tackle.
“When I was seven I played under 13s until I couldn’t play under 13s anymore.”
46 tries in an All Blacks jersey puts ‘the bus’ just three shy of Doug Howlett’s all-time record and gives Savea one of the most electric strike rates in rugby history.
The desire to dominate the physical side of the game from such a young age will make a whole lot of sense to fans who witnessed Savea at the height of his powers. A certain try against France in the 2015 World Cup has gone down in history as an all-time great finish through contact.
Just Julian Savea going full beast mode 😮
Is this one of the best individual performances at a Rugby World Cup?
Watch the full episode on World Rugby Youtube#ThatGameWhen | #RWC2015 pic.twitter.com/umnRZ700pS
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) July 6, 2023
Savea’s eight tries scored in the 2015 tournament equalled the record of the great Jonah Lomu and Bryan Habana as most in a single World Cup.
The All Blacks were victorious in 2015 and Savea fulfilled his dream of providing for his parents who worked so hard for him and his brother Ardie to ensure the boys had opportunities to succeed.
“Julian was a very big kid, he was way, way big for his age,” Lina Savea, Julian’s mum said.
“It was really hard, for instance getting his rugby boots. He was already size 13, we couldn’t get any from town, so we had to go out to the Hutt, to actually look for some boots that fit him.
“He was already six foot and by the time he played for the under-13s, he was already up there and all the parents were getting annoyed because he was tackling all their kids, taking all of their kids out of the game.
“So, they were complaining so I literally had to carry his birth certificate, not his passport, his birth certificate, just to let them know that Julian is legit, that he’s not a 15-year-old playing in the under 13s.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Danny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
34 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
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